A poll conducted by The Levada Centre in early December 2017 has revealed the country’s perceptions on the most pressing threats to national security, as well as who Russia’s biggest enemies are.

When asked whether Russia currently has enemies, 66% of respondents answered ‘yes’, the lowest percentage since 2014, when Russians’ perceptions of enemies reached record post-Soviet highs after the annexation of Crimea.

However, 68% of the 1600 respondents answered that the USA is Russia’s main enemy, the highest percentage in over 20 years.  The USA was followed by Ukraine with 29% of the vote, and “Europe and the West” with 14%.

In response to a multiple choice question, 23% of respondents answered that “our country is surrounded by enemies on every side”, however, interestingly, the majority (27%) of respondents chose the statement “a people on the path to rebirth will always find an enemy”.

When asked whether western NATO countries should have a reason to fear Russia, 14% of respondents answered ‘certainly yes’, the highest percentage in this category for 20 years.  However, when asked whether Russia should fear NATO countries, 17% answered ‘certainly yes’, a number slightly lower than previous years.