The majority of Russians think that the Ukraine crisis was caused by Western "interference" and believe that their country should continue supporting pro-Moscow separatists even if it could lead to a full-fledged civil war or even World War III, a poll showed.
Some 64 percent of Russians believe that the violence in Ukraine was a "result of interference by the West," while another 20 percent blamed the "nationalist policy of the Ukrainian leadership," according to a survey by the independent Levada Center pollster, cited on Tuesday by Interfax.
Among the possible outcomes of the conflict, a protracted civil war was seen as likely by 82 percent of respondents, a Russian-Ukrainian war by 62 percent, and a third world war by 52 percent, the poll indicated.
Still, 55 percent of respondents said Moscow should continue supporting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, while another 22 percent disagreed, the report said.
The poll was conducted on July 18-21 among 1,600 people in 46 Russian regions. The report did not provide a margin of error, but Levada Center polls usually give a margin of error of no more than 3.4 percentage points.
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