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Russia’s Biggest Enemy Is U.S. — Poll

Donald Trump (John Taggart / Bloomberg)

Two out of three Russians say that their country has enemies, of which the United States is the biggest adversary, a new poll suggests. 

U.S.-Russia relations are at historic lows amid claims of a Kremlin-backed campaign of election interference in the American election.

In a new survey published Wednesday by the Levada Center, 66 percent of respondents said they believe that Russia has an enemy. 

“They are talking about evil designs against our country on TV all the time,” Levada’s pollster Denis Volkov told the RBC business outlet Wednesday, explaining the level of antagonism. 

Of those two-thirds, 68 percent named the U.S. as Russia's biggest enemy. It was followed by Ukraine and the EU at 29 percent and 14 percent each. 

One in four polled Russians said the “country is surrounded by enemies from all sides.” 

Liberals, the opposition, China, and oligarchs were identified as enemies by less than 2 percent of respondents. 

Levada carried out the poll among 1,600 Russians across 48 Russian regions on Dec. 1-5, 2017.

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