The situation in the Russian army is assessed more positively by Russians than two years ago; the work of S. Shoygu get more approval than the work of A. Serdyukov as minister of defense.
MOSCOW, November 27, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the opinion of Russians concerning general conscription; their assessments of the work of Sergey Shoygu as minister of defense as well as his achievements and failures.
The state of the Russian army is positively assessed by Russians: in 2011 the state of the army was assessed as good by only 13%; today this share makes up 22%. The share of negative assessments has decreased from 29% in 2011 to 18% today. More than half of respondents assess the situation in the army as average (53%).
More than half of Russians would like general conscription to be preserved (55%). They are mainly supporters of the A Just Russia party (69%), CPRF (70%), and elderly respondents (64%). Thirty-eight percent of Russians support the contract-based system; they are mainly adherents of non-parliament parties (53%). The younger the respondents are, the more they support contract-based system (from 28% among elderly respondents to 45% among 25-34-year-old Russians).
The work of S. Shoygu as a minister of defense is assessed more positively than the work of his predecessor A. Serdyukov: the average score is 3.86 out of 5 possible points against Serdyukov with 3.07.
Russians respect Shoygu (46%); many hope for him (28%), trust him (25%) or like him (15%). negative emotions are rarely expressed distrust - only 3%; skepsis – 2%; disappointment – 1%.
It was really hard for the respondents to name the achievement of S. Shoygu as a minister of defense: 48% failed to answer. The remainder cite regular military training, establishing the order in the army (7%, for each), new equipment (5%) et cet.
Most of Russians cannot cite the failures of S. Shoygu: 52% say that there were no failures; 45% are undecided.
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on November 16-17, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
How would you assess the current situation in the Russian army? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| 1998 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | February 2013 | November 2013 |
Very good | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Good | 1 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 20 |
Average | 13 | 48 | 47 | 44 | 46 | 53 |
Bad | 40 | 22 | 25 | 23 | 26 | 16 |
Very bad | 41 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 7 |
In your opinion, should the general conscription and compulsory military service be preserved for young men of conscription age, or not? (closed-ended question, one answer) | ||||||||
| 1998 | 2000 | 2002 | 2005 | 2006 | 2008 | February 2013 | November 2013 |
General conscription and compulsory military service should be preserved | 35 | 32 | 25 | 52 | 45 | 51 | 63 | 55 |
A shift to the contract-based system should be made | 55 | 61 | 66 | 39 | 49 | 39 | 33 | 38 |
Hard to tell | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 7 |
Assess how well Sergey Shoygu does his job, using the 5-point scale, where 1 – very bad, 5 – perfect. (closed-ended question, one answer, average) | ||||
| September 2012 * | February 2013 | September 2013** | November 2013 |
Average meaning | 3.07 | 3.77 | 4.28 | 3.86 |
*In September 2012 the respondents assessed the work of A. Serdyukov as a minister of defense
**In September 2013 the question was: “Using the 5-point scale, where 1 – very bad, 5 – perfect, assess, please, how well the following ministers do their job (closed-ended question, one answer per each minister)
What feelings does Sergey Shoygu evoke? (closed-ended question, not more than two answers) | |||
| 2011, Anatoly Serdyukov | February 2013 Sergey Shoygu | November 2013, Sergey Shoygu |
Respect | 9 | 38 | 46 |
Hope | 10 | 32 | 28 |
Trust | 6 | 22 | 25 |
Liking | 3 | 17 | 15 |
Admiration | 0 | 7 | 6 |
Love | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Distrust | 13 | 3 | 3 |
Skepsis | 6 | 2 | 2 |
Disappointment | 9 | 2 | 1 |
Antipathy | 6 | 1 | 1 |
Condemnation | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Hatred | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Indifference | 38 | 11 | 9 |
Hard to tell | 16 | 2 | 7 |
Sergey Shoygu has been the minister of defense for a year. What are his considerable achievements and failures? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
He always organizes military training | 7 |
He established the order in the army; everything is under his control | 7 |
The army equipment is updating | 5 |
Level of professionalism in the army has risen | 3 |
New uniform was introduced; foot wrap was cancelled | 2 |
Army helps during the emergency situation | 2 |
Reforming the army | 2 |
Increasing country`s military capacity | 2 |
Army prestige has grown | 2 |
Military schools are being restored | 2 |
Living conditions have improved | 2 |
Increase of salaries for military personnel | 1 |
Fighting against corruption | 1 |
Improving the living conditions of the military personnel; providing apartments | 1 |
Return of the dismissed military personnel | 1 |
Restoring the military medicine | 1 |
Shift to the contract-based system | 1 |
Everything he does is perfect; he works well | 3 |
No achievements | 15 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 48 |
Sergey Shoygu has been the minister of defense for a year. What are his failures? (open-ended question, any number of answers) | |
He failed to prevent emergency situations | 1 |
No contract-based army | 1 |
Corruption cannot be combated | 0 |
Everything is being done too slow | 0 |
New uniform was introduced | 0 |
Short service term | 0 |
Lack of qualified personnel | 0 |
No failures | 52 |
Hard to tell | 45 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!