Russians Don't Want Close Relations With US

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Thinking about foreign policy, what should Russia do in the next few years with regards to the United States?

	Feb. 2010	Mar. 2003
Build closer ties	14%	24%
Keep things as they are	40%	29%
Seek a greater distance	36%	38%
Hard to answer	11%	10%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews to 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Feb. 26 to Mar. 2, 2010. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.

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Belarus: Majority Now Want to Join Mega Russia

If a referendum on Russia-Belarus unification took place today, how would you vote?

	Dec. 2008	Sept. 2007
For unification	46.3%	33.8%
Against unification	35.3%	47.4%
Wouldn’t vote	9.7%	11.0%
Not sure	8.2%	7.8%

Source: Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS)
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 1,522 Belarusian adults, conducted from Dec. 2 to Dec. 12, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Russians Support Surrendering More Power to Medvedev

Do you approve or disapprove of Russian president Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal to extend the term of the president from four to six years, and extend the term of the State Duma from four to five years?

Approve	56%
Disapprove	29%
Hard to answer	15%

Source: All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16, 2008. Margin of error is 3.4 per cent.

Russians Want Putin Back as President

"I is back."

If the presidential election took place this Sunday, who would you vote for? (Open-ended)

Vladimir Putin	33%
Dmitry Medvedev	14%
Gennady Zyuganov	4%
Vladimir Zhirinovsky	3%
Other / Not sure / Would not vote	46%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Aug. 15 to Aug. 18, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Russians Want to Swallow Up South Ossetia

What do you think should happen to South Ossetia?

Remain in the composition of Georgia	4%
Become part of Russia	46%
Become an independent state	34%
Hard to answer	16%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Aug. 9 and Aug. 10, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Germany: No to NATO Including Georgia

Do you support or oppose Georgia’s accession into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)?

Support	26%
Oppose	58%
Not sure	16%

Source: Infratest-Dimap / ARD
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 German adults, conducted on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20, 2008. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

British Fear Russia

From what you know about events in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia in recent days, do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Agree	Disagree	Neither	Unsure
Gordon Brown and other Western leaders should have done more to help the Georgians	32%	27%	15%	26%
Britain and other Western governments were caught napping by Russia’s actions in Georgia	57%	11%	9%	23%
Russia is trying to re-create the old, cold war Soviet Union	37%	24%	9%	30%
The West should fear the military power of Russia	48%	24%	11%	17%

Source: YouGov
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,745 British voters, conducted on Aug. 14 and Aug. 15, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

59% of Americans See Russian Rape of Georgia Threat to National Security

The majority of Americans (59%) regard Russia’s ongoing invasion of neighboring Georgia as a threat to U.S. national security, but less than a third (31%) believe the United States should take any diplomatic action against Russia.

A similar number (33%) say the United States should not take diplomatic action against Russia, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey taken Monday night. A plurality (36%) remain undecided.

Just over half (51%) also believe that John McCain is the best equipped of the two major presidential candidates to handle a similar crisis in the future, while 36% (WTF?) believe Barack Obama is the better of the two to deal with this kind of situation.
—Rasmussen Reports

Many More Potential Flashpoints Fester Along Russia's Borders

Grouped together, there are 10 separate pockets of frozen conflicts straddling both sides of the Russian border in the Caucuses. But the Russian campaign to maintain external influence stretches far beyond the troubled network of clans and tribes of the Caucasian mountains.

Along with South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia, there is Crimea in the Ukraine, Transdniester in Moldova, Narva in Estonia, and eastern areas of Latvia.
—Telegraph

Russian Rape of Georgia Grows in Scale

Russia battled Georgian forces on land and sea, reports said late Sunday, despite a Georgian cease-fire offer and its claim to be withdrawing from South Ossetia, the separatist Georgian province battered by days of intense fighting.

Russia claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that was trying to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea, and Georgian officials said Russia sent tanks from South Ossetia into Georgia proper, heading toward a strategic city before being turned back.
—My Way News

Russian Invasion Pushes Past Disputed Territory into Heart of Georgia

Russia expanded its attacks on Georgia on Sunday, moving tanks and troops through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advancing toward the city of Gori in central Georgia, in its first direct assault on a Georgian city with ground forces during three days of heavy fighting, Georgian officials said.

The maneuver — along with bombing of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi — seemed to suggest that Russia’s aims in the conflict had gone beyond securing the pro-Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to weakening the armed forces of Georgia, a former Soviet republic and an ally of the United States whose Western leanings have long irritated the Kremlin.
—New York Times

Russia Continues Slaughter

YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING... In Nogir, North Ossetia, friends and relatives cry over the coffin of an ethnic Ossetian who was killed in Tskhinvali during the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetian separatists. A distraught Georgian woman is comforted by her husband in Gori, which is near the border of the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili (R) and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner visit Gori to examine damage resulting from the ongoing conflict. Mr Saakashvili, centre, was later whisked away amid fears of an air attack in Gori, where dozens of Russian warplanes have launched raids. The French foreign minister (not pictured) also took cover. Georgian tanks drive on the outskirts of Gori on their way to the South Ossetian front line. Both Russia and Georgia have accused each other of continued attacks after Georgia called for a ceasefire. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev speaks during a meeting with Russian politicians at the Kremlin. Russia says its forces have entered Georgia from the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

NATO Betrayal of Georgia

Above: Russian dictator Vladimir Putin

As a Russian jet bombed fields around his village, Djimali Avago, a Georgian farmer, asked me: “Why won’t America and Nato help us? If they won’t help us now, why did we help them in Iraq?”
—Times of London

Georgia, Russia Battle for Control of South Ossetian Capital

Georgia said on Friday its forces were in control of the capital of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, but rebels said Russian armored vehicles had entered the northern edges of the city.

"Tskhinvali and the heights around Tskhinvali and the majority of the villages in South Ossetia are under the control of Georgian forces," Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a televised address.

—Reuters

Blood in the Caucasus: Why is it Happening?

Political map of Georgia, with recognized boundaries.




Map of ethnic groups in Georgia and its environs.

You can see why there is so much trouble. Boundaries do not match the reality on the ground. There are so many ethnic groups in the region that this situation has the potential to turn into an epic disaster.
Click on the map to enlarge.

Russians Know Medvedev Not in Charge

In whose hands is the real authority in the Russian Federation placed right now?

	Jul. 2008	Jun. 2008
In Medvedev’s hands	9%	17%
In Putin’s hands	36%	32%
Both equally	47%	40%
Hard to answer	8%	11%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Jul. 18 to Jul. 22, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Russia: Corruption Rampant

What do you think is the extent of bribery and corruption in Russia?

	Mar. 2008	Jul. 2007	Apr. 2007
A few officials are corrupt	6%	7%	5%
Less than half of officials are corrupt	11%	12%	9%
The majority of officials are corrupt	47%	43%	47%
Practically every official is corrupt	29%	28%	34%
Hard to answer	7%	10%	5%

Source: Yury Levada Analytical Center
Methodology: Interviews with 1,600 Russian adults, conducted from Mar. 14 to Mar. 18, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

Belarus: People Against Using Russian Rouble

Do you agree with the Russian rouble becoming the unified currency in the union of Belarus and Russia and that it should be issued by Russia alone?

Yes	23.0%
No	66.7%
Not sure	10.3%

Source: Independent Institute for Social, Economic and Political Studies (IISEPS)
Methodology: Interviews with 1,021 Belarusian adults, conducted from Jun. 2 to Jun. 12, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

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