Over 40% of Russian Citizens Reckon Russia Among Most Influential States

The share of Russians, who believe that Russia is equal to the most influential powers, continues to grow, reaching 41 percent, according to opinion poll.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The number of respondents, who view Russia as equal to world's most influential countries, has increased by five percent in 2017, reaching 41 percent, Russia's non-profit Levada Center said Monday.

"The share of Russians, who believe that Russia is equal to the most influential powers, continues to grow," a statement accompanying the poll's results said.

According to the poll, 37 percent of the respondents disagree with this opinion. Among them, 23 percent view the economic underdevelopment as one of the main reasons for a gap between the most powerful countries and Russia.

Six percent believe resistance of the Western countries negatively affected Russian positions in the world, while instability of the political situation in Russia and the underdevelopment of democracy were mentioned by 3 percent of the respondents respectively.

Total of 1,600 respondents above the age of 18 across the country participated in the survey. The error margin is 3.4 percent.