Russians trust Putin, church, and armed forces

Russian research holding ROMIR Monitoring asked their respondents to name state and public institutions which they trusted. The All-Russia opinion poll took place in February and involved 1,500 persons living in more than 100 cities and villages.

Respondents were asked the following question: "Which public institutions do you trust at the most?" A number of alternative answers could be ticked so the sum of results does not equal 100%.

The poll brought out the results as follows: the most trustworthy politician for 34% is President Vladimir Putin. The so-called "candidate against everybody" which stands for "I trust no one" in this particular case is a runner-up with 33% of the vote. 16% trust the church, 14% trust the armed forces, 8% trust the government, 7% trust trade unions and the media, while those who trust the police account for 5%. Only 4% trust the Duma and local authorities, 2% have trust in the Federation Council and political parties.

The poll indicates that Mr. Putin has the highest confidence rating - 40% - among the residents of the northwestern region of Russian while it takes a plunge to 29% in the Siberian federal region. 27% of residents of the Russian Far East trust the church, 13% trust trade unions, 8% trust the police, the same percentage have trust in the Duma and local authorities. 19% of residents of the Volga region favor the armed forces while 11% in the southern region trust the government. 13% of the Siberians trust the media. The majority of respondents (39%) who do not trust anyone or anything are based in the central federal region. 36% of advanced age-group citizens trust the President, 19% of them have trust in the church and 16% of the same group trust the armed forces. Their confidence in the law enforcement agencies stays at very low level (4%), though they trust the Duma even less (3%). Young people from 18 to 24 years of age are also inclined to trust President Putin (35%).