Entrance to Sheremetyevo Airport
During a survey conducted on July 4-5 among 1,600 people in 46 regions of the Russian Federation, 85 percent of respondents said they "rather" would not want to leave their homeland, and another two percent found it difficult to answer. The number of those wishing to go abroad, as sociologists noted, has not changed compared to 2011 and 2013. Only in 2012 and 2014 were there 11 percent of such citizens.
Most of those who want to go abroad explained their position by a desire to improve their standard of living, salaries, pensions, or benefits (40 percent of those wishing to leave Russia). Another nine percent are looking for a country with a more favorable climate, seven percent for "social security" and "stability," six percent for career and business opportunities. Four percent of respondents categorically dislike living in Russia.
For the first time since 2011, there appeared those dissatisfied with the policies pursued by the authorities (six percent of those wishing to leave Russia), with the observance of human rights and legislation (three percent), and with the level of healthcare (two percent). VTsIOM Director General Valery Fedorov explained this phenomenon by the actions of the opposition, which, in his words, speaks of the onset of "full authoritarianism" in Russia. At the same time, he pointed out that a small number of the 13 percent of potential emigrants answered this way.
At the same time, Fedorov noted that the majority of citizens understand the lack of options for migration and are aware of the problems in the West. "The president's rating is still very high, the majority supports the current political course. They may be upset by price changes in stores, but they support what is happening, at least now, and are not going anywhere," added VTsIOM Director of International Research Olga Kamenchuk.
"Undoubtedly, the deterioration of the political climate is increasing," senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Leonty Byzov told Kommersant. The first "symptoms," in his opinion, appeared in 2012, when "simultaneously with the persecution of people on political grounds, the State Duma began to pass laws aimed at the patriotic conformity of citizens." As a result, more and more citizens are dissatisfied with the general political "trend," which includes both the annexation of Crimea and "aggressive propaganda" and "growing intolerance in society." Their number is still small, but "will only increase in the coming years," Byzov believes, as "the overall economic and political instability in the country turns out to be stronger than the feeling of patriotic uplift."