Russian people afraid of poverty and low quality life most

The majority of Russians do not even believe that fascists could come to power in Russia

The majority of Russians believe that economic, terrorist, ecological and demographic threats pose biggest real dangers to Russia. The results were revealed after the poll that was conducted by the Russian center for the public opinion research.

Specialists questioned 1,600 people in 100 cities and 40 regions of the Russian Federation with the purpose to find out, which threats Russian people were afraid of most, and which of them they considered most dangerous for the entire nation, Interfax reports.

The fear of the sudden reduction of the living standard, to hunger and poverty, takes the first place on the list of dangers: 70 percent of respondents acknowledged that. 67 percent of people are scared of terrorist acts conducted against strategically important objects, such as nuclear power plants, water reservoirs and life-support systems. About 59 percent were deeply concerned about ecological disasters. 59 percent named the decline of culture, science and education; 58 percent said that they were scared of the Russian population extinction; 58 percent acknowledged that they were concerned about peoples of other nationalities settling in Russia nationwide.

The research showed that a lot of people (a little bit less than a half of respondents) considered the exhaustion of national oil and gas reserves and other natural resources a considerable threat to the nation. 42 percent expressed their worries about the loss of Russia's certain border territories, the Kaliningrad enclave and the Kuril islands in Russia's Far East, for example. 46 percent set out their concerns about a possible political split in the Russian administration on the threshold of the forthcoming presidential election in 2008.

The respondents named several other dangers, although they could be categorized as something less probable or disputable. According to the results of the poll, Russians are scared of massive epidemics (cholera, AIDS, SARS); the collapse of Russia into several independent states; a national revolution in Russia, similar to the ones that swept across Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan; a coup supported by Western special services; a civil war in Russia; military conflicts with neighboring states (Ukraine, Georgia, Baltic states). The share of respondents, who named the above-mentioned threats, varies from 20 to 37 percent, Newsru writes.

It is noteworthy that the majority of Russians do not even believe that fascists could come to power in Russia: only 11 percent acknowledged such a threat. Space threats, such as a giant asteroid slamming into Earth, are even less troublesome – 15 percent. 17 percent said that they were afraid of a possible war with Western states. The loss of Russia's sovereignty and the establishment of the USA's external control over Russia raises concerns with 18 percent of respondents.

It is worth mentioning that terrorist acts seem to be most dangerous of all threats for the people of 25-34 years of age. Elderly people and financially insecure Russian citizens emphasize the danger of a sudden reduction of the living standard.