Most Russians (72%) are aware of the protests on April 21. This is less than during the January protests. The share of those who have a positive attitude toward the protesters decreased. Young people and readers of new media have a better attitude toward the protesters. Older age groups and television viewers have worse attitudes.
Most Russians (72%) are aware of the protests of Alexei Navalny’s supporters that took place on April 21 – 11% closely followed the events and 61% have at least heard something about them. This is less than during the winter protests. Back then, 21% of Russians followed the protests closely and 59% had heard at least something about them.
New media readers followed the protests more closely than others. Among television viewers and radio listeners only 7% and 6% followed the events closely, while among readers of Internet publications, social networks, and Telegram channels the figures were 17%, 18%, and 37%, respectively.
16% of respondents had a positive attitude to the protesters, 39% had a negative attitude, and 42% had a neutral attitude. Compared to the January protests, the proportion of those who have a positive attitude toward the protesters decreased from 22% to 16%. Russians had the best attitude toward the protesters in Khabarovsk in the summer of 2020 – 47%.
Respondents aged 18-24 have a better attitude toward protesters than representatives of other age groups: 26% of young respondents have a positive attitude, while 21% have a negative attitude. Respondents aged 55 and older have the worst attitude toward protesters: 12% positive, 52% negative.
Among television viewers and radio listeners, 8% each viewed the protesters positively, while 51% and 46%, respectively, viewed them negatively. Readers of new media have better attitudes toward the protesters: 24% of Internet readers, 31% of social network readers, 51% of telegram channel readers. 29%, 23%, and 12%, respectively, have a negative attitude toward the protesters.
This survey was conducted April 22 – 28 2021, among a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample was comprised of 1614 people aged 18 or older in 137 municipalities of 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
The statistical error of these studies for a sample of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
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