PUBLIC OPINION
9. RUSSIAN PUBLIC OPINION ON CHECHNYA POLICY
SOURCE. Theodore P. Gerber and Sarah E. Mendelson, How Russians Think About Chechnya. Program on New Approaches to Russian Security (PONARS) Policy Memo No. 243. At: www.csis.org/ruseura/PONARS/policymemos/pm_0243.pdf
The authors included a special battery of questions about human rights and Chechnya in an omnibus survey administered in September and October 2001 to a nationally representative sample of 2,405 citizens of Russia by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).
The first question was: "In your view, what should be the government's policy toward Chechnya?" Eight options were offered, including "no opinion" (chosen by 19 per cent of respondents).
Only 6 per cent expressed agreement with current policy ("Maintain the status quo level of military action"). By far the most popular option, supported by 39 per cent, was: "Increase military action to annihilate the Chechen fighters." The two options which included full troop withdrawal were chosen by 16 per cent: 11 per cent wanted to withdraw and "seal the border," while only 5 per cent wanted to withdraw and "help Chechnya rebuild."
The remaining 21 per cent chose one of the three intermediate options, entailing cease fire, negotiations and/or limited troop withdrawal. Continued military action at one level or another is supported by a narrow majority (51 per cent).
Respondents were also presented with a list of 12 "feelings" which they may have felt on hearing "reports about the activities of federal forces in Chechnya during the last several months" and asked to select the two that they had felt most often. The percentages confessing to various feelings were as follows:
| Alarm at large losses of Russian troops | 68 |
| Shame that our troops cannot cope with rebels | 27 |
| Alarm at excessive cost of military operations | 23 |
| Anger at the Chechens | 15 |
| Pride that Russia is fighting terrorism | 12 |
| Anxiety regarding lack of reliable information about Chechnya in the press | 12 |
| Pride in successes of our forces | 7 |
| Anger at the Russian government | 7 |
| Anxiety that our troops' actions hurt Russia's international reputation | 5 |
| Shame that our troops violate human rights and international norms | 4 |
Thus a majority are unhappy about the cost of the war in Russian lives, and many
are also worried about the economic cost and disappointed with the performance
of Russian troops. Human rights do not figure as a major concern -- a finding
which the authors link to government control over media coverage of the war.
Somewhat larger proportions are prepared to take a strong stand for human rights when answering questions focused specifically on the subject. Thus 27 per cent agree that international organizations and Russian authorities should investigate reports of illegal acts against civilians by Russian forces in Chechnya and that if such reports are confirmed the perpetrators should be punished. However, these respondents are outnumbered by those who agree either that illegal actions "are inevitable during war and thus do not merit a response" (15 per cent) or that "these allegations are greatly exaggerated rumors put forth by enemies of Russia" (18 per cent).
Thus despite widespread though diffuse dissatisfaction with the present situation public support for the war is holding up at a fairly high level. But this does not mean that the "war against terror" is at the top of Russians' concerns. Presented with a list of 20 problems facing Russian society, only 22 per cent of respondents even included terrorism among the 5-6 most serious threats. Crime, drugs, and the economy were all of much greater concern.
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