This survey was carried out December 12–18, 2019 with a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents. The sample comprised 1608 people age 18 or older from 137 localities in 50 regions of the Russian Federation. The survey was conducted as a personal interview in respondents’ homes. The answer distribution is presented as a percentage of the number of participants.
The statistical error of these studies for a selection of 1600 people (with a probability of 0.95) does not exceed:
3.4% for indicators around 50%
2.9% for indicators around 25%/75%
2.0% for indicators around 10%/90%
1.5% for indicators around 5%/95%
WHICH OF THE LISTED EVENTS IN 2019 DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE MOST IMPORTANT? (respondents were presented with a card listing the events and could choose more than one answer or write in their own; answers ranked in descending order)
| The pension reform and its consequences | 44 |
| Forest fires in Siberia | 38 |
| Flooding in Irkutsk Oblast | 30 |
| The opening of railroad section of the Crimean Bridge | 29 |
| Russia’s involvement in the war in Syria | 24 |
| Russia’s exclusion from international sporting competitions, the doping scandal | 21 |
| The death of 14 sailors on a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea | 21 |
| The successful landing of a passenger airplane in a cornfield near Zhukovsky airport | 18 |
| Natural gas explosions in residential buildings | 17 |
| Anticorruption inquiries, the arrest of high-level officials | 17 |
| Deaths in plane crashes: the Sukhoi Superjet 100 in Sheremetyevo Airport, Angara Airlines crash in Buryatia, etc. | 16 |
| Talks between Putin and Zelensky, prisoner exchange with Ukraine, the seizure and return of military ships, separation of forces in Donbass | 15 |
| Notre-Dame de Paris Fire | 15 |
| Crisis in providing critical life-saving medication due to the import substitution policy | 13 |
| Elections in Russia: new regional and municipal leaders | 13 |
| Protests in Moscow and Yekaterinburg, protests over waste disposal, protests in Shiyes and other cities | 12 |
| Volodymyr Zelensky’s victory in the Ukrainian presidential election | 12 |
| The annulment of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and Russia | 12 |
| Notorious murder cases: the girls in Saratov, PhD student Anastasia Yeshenko in St. Petersburg, etc. | 10 |
| Criminal cases against protesters, Navalny supporters in regions, the “Moscow Case”, etc. | 10 |
| Russian conscript in Trans-Baikal shooting eight fellow servicemen | 10 |
| Case against the soccer players Mamayev and Kokorin | 8 |
| Termination of flights to Georgia | 8 |
| Discussions on the “domestic violence” bill, the case of the Khachaturyan sisters | 8 |
| The passage of a series of restrictive laws including laws against “insulting the authorities,” against “fake news,” for a “sovereign Internet,” and against “foreign agents” | 7 |
| The case of the journalist Ivan Golunov | 7 |
| Mass protests abroad (France, Spain, Hong Kong, etc.) | 5 |
| Greta Thunberg’s speech at the UN on atmospheric pollution | 3 |
| Other events (“self-employment laws,” “everything is important,” “shorter workday,” etc.) | 1 |
| It is difficult to say | 6 |
THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS OF THE OUTGOING YEAR
(according to the results of a closed survey)
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| War in Syria, withdrawal of the bulk of Russia’s forces, declaration of victory over ISIL | The opening of the Crimean Bridge | The pension reform and its consequences |
| Russia’s exclusion from the Olympics in South Korea due to the doping scandal | Pension reform | Forest fires in Siberia |
| Terrorist acts in St. Petersburg | Russian Presidential Elections | Flooding in Irkutsk Oblast |
| North Korean nuclear tests, North Korea’s conflict with the US | Hosting the World Cup in Russia | The opening of the railroad section of the Crimean Bridge |
| Military activities in Donbass | The fire in the Winter Cherry shopping mall in Kemerovo | Russia’s involvement in the war in Syria |
WHO CAN BE NAMED “PERSON OF THE YEAR 2019”? NAME 4–5 PEOPLE FROM RUSSIA, CIS COUNTRIES, OR OTHER COUNTRIES (respondents name a person or people of the year THEMSELVES without a card; the table shows people who were named by ≥ 1% of the total sample)
| Vladimir PUTIN | 31 |
| Volodymyr ZELENSKY | 7 |
| Sergey LAVROV | 6 |
| Alexander LUKASHENKO | 5 |
| Sergey SHOYGU | 5 |
| Donald TRUMP | 3 |
| Damir YUSUPOV | 2 |
| Vladimir ZHIRINOVSKY | 2 |
| Dmitry MEDVEDEV | 2 |
| Alexei NAVALNY | 2 |
| Sergey SOBYANIN | 2 |
| Pavel GRUDININ | 1 |
| Emmanuel MACRON | 1 |
| Greta THUNBERG | 1 |
| Angela MERKEL | 1 |
Translated by Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (formerly Monterey Institute of International Studies).
The ANO Levada Center has been included in the registry of non-commercial organizations acting as foreign agents. Read the Director of the Levada Center’s statement of disagreement with this decision here.