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