Russians against handing over any part of Kurils to Japan - poll

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Almost three-quarters of Russians polled by the Levada Analytical Center oppose the idea of handing over some of the Kuril Islands to Japan.

According to Levada, 74% of respondents opposed the idea, 17% did not, and 9% were undecided.

Fewer than 20% said they are following the situation closely, while 80% either had not heard about it before or had paid no attention.

The majority (61%) said they were favorably disposed towards Japan, including 10% who said they were very well disposed and 51% who said they were well disposed. Last year, those figures were 48%, 6%, and 42%, respectively.

Twenty percent expressed negative feelings; 7% said they were very badly disposed toward Japan, and 13% badly disposed. A year ago, those figures were 30%, 8%, and 22%.

The Levada Center polled 1,600 respondents older than 18 in 136 populated localities in 52 constituent territories on November 22-28.