Support The Moscow Times!

Russians Conflicted Over Crimea Annexation’s Value

Hannibal Hanschke / DPA / TASS

Despite still approving of their country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, fewer Russians view it as beneficial on the fifth anniversary of the annexation, a state-run survey has found.

Independent polls have shown a yearly uptick in the percentage of Russians who believe that their country benefited from “the return of Crimea” despite economic sanctions that have led to a downturn in many Russians’ quality of life over the past five years.

According to results published by the state-funded pollster FOM on Thursday, Russians generally view the annexation positively, with 77 percent of respondents in Russia's mainland approving of it. Just 39 percent of respondents, however, said the Crimean annexation was beneficial to the country.

That marks a drop from 67 percent of Russians who saw benefits in the annexation in the spring of 2015, the Vedomosti business daily cited the poll results as saying. The share of Russians who saw equal benefit and harm in the annexation has risen from 15 percent to 39 percent in that period, it said.

“Russians living in the backwoods who backed the peninsula’s annexation later felt the consequences of economic sanctions caused in part by the annexation itself,” Vedomosti wrote in an editorial.

In a separate poll, 93 percent of respondents based in Crimea hold a positive view of “reunifying” with Russia five years ago, according to results published by the state-funded VTsIOM pollster on Thursday.

In addition, 72 percent of Crimean respondents told VTsIOM their lives have improved since the annexation.

VTsIOM conducted the poll among 1,600 Crimean respondents on March 10. FOM surveyed 1,500 respondents in 53 Russian regions on March 3.

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more