About a third of Russians (37%) consider Russia is a great power, and another 29% think that the country will become one again in the next 15-20 years, according to the state-owned pollster, the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM).
The number of Russians who consider Russia a great power has decreased by 12% since 2018, when 49% of respondents believed Russia was a great power. In comparison with the figures for 2017, the number of these responses decreased by 20% from 57% to 37%.
According to the current poll, 26% of Russians are convinced that Russia will not be able to become a great power in the near future. Almost every third respondent (31%) believes that Russia should return to the status of a "superpower" like the USSR. Men and Russians over the age of 35 are mostly likely to think Russia should become a great power again.
At the same time, approximately half of the respondents aged 18 to 34 are confident that Russia should strive to become one of the 10-15 economically developed and politically influential countries. Another 10% of Russians believe that the country should not strive for any global goals.
The most important goals for Russia include well-being and a high standard of living (12%), the development of social policy and the improvement of people's lives (11%), the maintenance of peaceful relations with other countries (10%), the development of the economy and the maintenance of business (9%), co-operation with other countries (7%), achieving global authority and influence (6%).
At the same time, another 6% believe that first of all, Russia needs to attain the status of a world power.