24% of Russians questioned by Levada Center want separation of Chechnya, 27% are indifferent, 13% are fine with it, 12% say that it is already a separate state, 23% are against the separation, 10% said that such process should be prevented by any means.
21% of people questioned by the polling center say that donations of federal funds to Caucasus states are spent with less efficiency than they are in other regions of the country, 28% say that the funds are stolen.
Maksim Shevchenko, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for Development of the Civil Society and Human Rights, called the polling provocative and a threat to territorial integrity. He believes that the polling was faked and the questions were formulated inappropriately.
Sergey Mikheyev, Director General of the Center for Political Conjuncture, noted that the polls cannot be trusted. Such attitude is obviously a consequence of the two wars in the 1990-2000s. The expert assumes that single polling does not reflect the real picture. No one knows the opinion expressed about 10 years ago.
Yevgeny Minchenko, director of the International Institute for Political Expertise, called the figures mixed. There are regions that have tense relations with Chechnya, such as the Stavropol Territory. Serious tensions can be seen in Moscow and northern regions. The people have inadequate behavior and face aggressive Chechen business expansion, the official explains. Other people show no meaningful attitude towards the topic. Minchenko supposes that harsher ratings would reveal only 10% of people wishing separation of Chechnya.
