LONDON, April 16 (RIA Novosti) – A recent independent opinion poll in the streets of London found no shortage of people who said they are not buying the West’s characterization of Russia's alleged interventions in Ukraine under the helm of President Vladimir Putin.
“I feel that he’s been demonized and I feel that perhaps it’s slightly unfair. I would like to see some media coverage that is less biased,” one of the respondents said.
The survey called “View on the Streets” was conducted by the educational volunteer organization WORLDbytes to see if the public had swallowed the portrayal by Western politicians and media outlets of Russia as the major cause of problems in the region.
The report said the responses were fascinating, suggesting many Londoners question bias by the media and remain critical of Western meddling in the situation in Ukraine.
“Any Western intervention in another part of the world is almost always disastrous. And this one, I think, has a uniquely unpleasant flavor … A democratically elected government was deposed by protests, whereas that government should have been thrown out by election, of course,” one Londoner said.
“If I was a Russian in Ukraine now, I’d be very worried. There is a very ugly strain of nationalism, which we haven’t seen since … the Second World War, which may ban Russian in schools and threaten them in all kinds of ways culturally and economically,” he added.
Ceri Dingle, Director of WORLDbytes, emphasized that none of the responders had blamed Moscow or Putin for the unrest in Ukraine’s eastern regions, or for Crimea’s decision to leave Ukraine.
Many respondents who spoke to volunteers during the 20-minute episode accused British media of double standards.
“I think there’s been a lot of coverage from the viewpoint of the West, obviously. It seems a bit one-sided. I find it hard to swallow that the West is calling for a diplomatic and democratic solution when they’ve supported rioters and activists who have ousted someone who was voted in democratically. It’s a kind of hypocrisy,” one of the respondents said.
“I’d like to hear what the people of Ukraine actually think, what their views are. I don’t feel like they have a voice at the moment. We kind of speak for them,” he added.
