No Change In Chechnya, Say Russians

• 2005-03-01
• Europa in de wereld

CPOD - Global Scan - Vancouver,BC,Canada

March 1, 2005
No Change In Chechnya, Say Russians

(Angus Reid Consultants - CPOD Global Scan) – Many adults in Russia
remain concerned about problems in a breakaway republic, according to a
poll by the Public Opinion Foundation. 49 per cent of respondents
believe the situation in Chechnya has not changed recently.

Chechen rebels have tried to secede from Russia since the collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991. Several terrorist incidents in Russia have
been blamed on the loose group, including two airplane crashes, a
suicide bombing in Moscow and the assassination of Chechnya’s president
Akhmad Kadyrov in May 2004.

The latest assailment took place last September, when militants took
control of a school in Beslan. The three-day siege left more than 335
people dead, many of them children. Fugitive Chechen leader Aslan
Maskhadov has denied involvement in the Beslan attack.

Another high-profile incursion occurred in October 2002, as
secessionists took control of a packed Moscow theatre, demanding the
withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya. The four-day standoff ended
when law enforcement officers used Fentanyl gas to subdue the rebels,
killing more than 100 hostages in the process.

Polling Data

Do you believe the situation in Chechnya is getting worse, getting
better, or has not changed recently?

Getting better

26%

Has not changed

49%

Getting worse

8%


Source: Public Opinion Foundation
Methodology: Interviews to 1,500 Russian adults, conducted on Feb. 19
and Feb. 20, 2005. Margin of error is 3.6 per cent.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewItem&itemID=6126