These survey were carried out: a) January 23–29, 2020 on 1603 people and b) February 20–26, 2020 on 1614 people constituting a representative sample of all Russian urban and rural residents 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 percentages of the total number of participants along with data from previous surveys.
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%
MASLENITSA AND LENT
MASLENITSA BEGINS ON FEBRUARY 24. ARE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY GOING TO MAKE BLINY (CREPES) ON THE WEEK OF MASLENITSA; WILL YOU EAT MEAT OR MEAT-BASED PRODUCTS; ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE GUESTS OR GO TO SOMEONE’S HOUSE TO CELEBRATE MASLENITSA; ARE YOU GOING TO ATTEND PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS; WILL YOU CELEBRATE MASLENITSA IN A DIFFERENT FASHION? (one answer)
| Mar. 97 | Mar. 00 | Mar. 03 | Feb. 08 | Feb. 10 | Jan. 12 | Mar. 13 | Feb. 14 | Feb. 16 | Feb. 17 | Feb. 20 | |
| Planning to make bliny (crepes) | 68 | 72 | 80 | 75 | 79 | 76 | 74 | 64 | 70 | 69 | 77 |
| Planning to have guests over or go to someone’s house to celebrate Maslenitsa | 37 | 35 | 40 | 37 | 33 | 39 | 34 | 33 | 30 | 41 | 39 |
| Will eat meat | 48 | 27 | 31 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 44 | 24 | 24 | 31 | 37 |
| Planning to go to public celebrations for Maslenitsa | 16 | 19 | 21 | 25 | 21 | 25 | 21 | 27 | 23 | 27 | 35 |
| Will celebrate Maslenitsa another way | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Not planning to celebrate Maslenitsa | 16 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 12 |
LENT STARTS ON MARCH 2. WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO EAT DURING THIS TIME: SAME DIET AS USUAL; PARTIALLY FAST (E.G. NO MEAT OR ALCOHOL); FULLY FAST DURING THE LAST WEEK; OR WILL YOU FULLY FAST FOR THE ENTIRE SEVEN WEEKS? (one answer)
| Mar. 98 | Mar. 00 | Mar. 03 | Feb. 08 | Feb. 10 | Jan. 12 | Mar. 13 | Feb. 14 | Feb. 16 | Feb. 17 | Feb. 20 | |
| Same diet as usual | 79 | 77 | 77 | 79 | 73 | 74 | 69 | 71 | 75 | 73 | 78 |
| Planning to fast partially (no meat, alcohol, etc.) | 11 | 14 | 16 | 15 | 19 | 17 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 16 |
| Planning to fast completely for the final week of Lent | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Planning to fast completely for the entire seven weeks | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| It is difficult to say | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
VIEWS ON RELIGION
WHAT ROLE DOES RELIGION PLAY IN YOUR LIFE? (one answer)
| Oct. 05 | Sep. 07 | Jan. 12 | Mar. 13 | Feb. 16 | Feb. 20 | |
| A very important one | 11 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
| A fairly important one | 27 | 26 | 24 | 29 | 28 | 28 |
| Not a very important one | 39 | 41 | 45 | 43 | 40 | 35 |
| No role at all | 20 | 24 | 20 | 19 | 22 | 24 |
| It is difficult to say | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
HOW RELIGIOUS DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE? (one answer)
| Aug. 14 | Dec. 15 | Jun. 17 | Dec. 18 | Jan. 20 | |
| Very religious | 4 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Somewhat religious | 31 | 36 | 44 | 43 | 42 |
| Not very religious | 37 | 32 | 33 | 28 | 28 |
| Not at all religious | 26 | 23 | 13 | 17 | 20 |
| It is difficult to say | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
WHICH OF THE STATEMENTS LISTED BEST REFLECTS YOUR BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD? (respondents were presented with a card with a list of answers from which they could choose only one or write in their own)
| May 91 | Sep. 98 | Jan. 08 | Feb. 09 | Aug. 14 | Dec. 15 | Oct. 17 | Dec. 18 | Jan. 20 | |
| I don’t believe in the existence of God | 18 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
| I don’t know whether or not God exists and doubt that it is possible to have proof of his existence | 18 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 |
| I don’t believe in God, but I believe in a higher power | 18 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 14 |
| I sometimes believe in the existence of God and sometimes don’t | 11 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 11 |
| I believe in the existence of God, though I sometimes have doubts | 15 | 16 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 17 |
| I know that God exists and do not have any doubts | 14 | 24 | 32 | 36 | 29 | 25 | 31 | 38 | 35 |
| Other (“He exists within us,” “believe in miracles,” “I believe in the existence of a higher power that governs the universe”) | 1 | – | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 | 1 | 1 |
| It is difficult to say | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 4 |
DO YOU BELIEVE THE CHURCH SHOULD INFLUENCE GOVERNMENT DECISION-MAKING? (one answer)
| Oct. 05 | Oct. 07 | Jan. 12 | Mar. 13 | Feb. 16 | Jun. 17 | Dec. 18 | Jan. 20 | |
| Definitely yes | 16 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 9 |
| Probably yes | 26 | 22 | 20 | 21 | 18 | 22 | 16 | 18 |
| Probably not | 27 | 33 | 37 | 39 | 38 | 36 | 31 | 28 |
| Definitely not | 24 | 28 | 28 | 26 | 28 | 22 | 41 | 40 |
| It is difficult to say | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 5 |
DO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH A SPECIFIC RELIGIOUS DENOMINATION? IF YES, THEN WHICH ONE? (respondents were presented with a card listing possible answers, and they could choose only one answer; ranked in descending order)
| Jan. 20 | Feb. 20 | |
| Orthodoxy | 65 | 68 |
| Islam | 7 | 7 |
| Protestantism | 1 | <1 |
| Buddhism | 1 | 1 |
| Catholicism | <1 | <1 |
| Judaism | <1 | <1 |
| Hinduism | <1 | <1 |
| Other (“shamanism,” “Shinto,” “Altaic faith, spirits, mountains”) | 1 | 1 |
| No denomination | 18 | 16 |
| Atheist | 7 | 6 |
| Difficult to say / refuse to answer | 1 | 1 |
Trends in responses over decades*
| Jan. 90 |
May. 00 |
Aug. 10 |
Feb. 20 |
|
| Orthodoxy | 33 | 52 | 70 | 68 |
| Catholicism | <1 | <1 | <1 | <1 |
| Islam | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| Other | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| None / atheist | 66 | 35 | 21 | 22 |
*The table includes only one measure for each decade. This is determined by differences in the wording of the question between surveys; trends in the share of respondents that associate with “Orthodoxy” can be seen in the graphic below.
Answer distribution based on respondents’ religious identification**
| Total sample | Orthodoxy | Islam | No denomination | Atheist | |
| WHAT KIND OF DIET WILL YOU HAVE DURING LENT? | |||||
| Same diet as usual | 78 | 73 | 82 | 95 | 94 |
| Planning to fast partially (no meat, alcohol, etc.) | 16 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Planning to fully fast for the final week of Lent | 1 | 2 | — | <1 | — |
| Planning to fully fast for the entire seven weeks | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | — |
| It is difficult to say | 2 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| WHAT ROLE DOES RELIGION PLAY IN YOUR LIFE? | |||||
| A very important one | 12 | 12 | 36 | 1 | 1 |
| A fairly important one | 28 | 36 | 37 | 4 | 2 |
| Not a very important one | 35 | 38 | 12 | 34 | 17 |
| No role at all | 24 | 12 | 11 | 60 | 78 |
| It is difficult to say | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| HOW RELIGIOUS DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE? | |||||
| Very religious | 9 | 9 | 30 | 1 | – |
| Somewhat religious | 42 | 53 | 53 | 14 | 5 |
| Not very religious | 28 | 30 | 13 | 31 | 20 |
| Not at all religious | 20 | 7 | 4 | 53 | 75 |
| It is difficult to say | 1 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 |
| WHICH OF THE STATEMENTS LISTED BEST REFLECTS YOUR NOTION OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD? | |||||
| I don’t believe in the existence of God | 9 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 51 |
| I don’t know whether or not God exists and doubt that it is possible to have proof of his existence | 9 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 18 |
| I don’t believe in God, but I believe in a higher power | 14 | 13 | 1 | 23 | 16 |
| I sometimes believe in the existence of God and sometimes don’t | 11 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 3 |
| I believe in the existence of God, though I sometimes have doubts | 17 | 22 | 11 | 8 | 3 |
| I know that God exists and do not have any doubts | 35 | 41 | 68 | 15 | 4 |
| Other | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 2 |
| It is difficult to say | 4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| DO YOU BELIEVE THE CHURCH SHOULD INFLUENCE GOVERNMENT DECISION-MAKING? | |||||
| Definitely yes | 9 | 11 | 14 | 4 | 4 |
| Probably yes | 18 | 22 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
| Probably not | 28 | 32 | 25 | 21 | 14 |
| Definitely not | 40 | 32 | 35 | 59 | 67 |
| It is difficult to say | 5 | 3 | 16 | 8 | 5 |
** The tables only include denominations with a significant proportion of answers.
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.