MOSCOW. Aug 30 (Interfax-AVN) - A total of 40% of Russians believe that Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov copes well with his duties, while 26% said the opposite, according to a poll conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation on August 24 among 1,500 respondents.
Sociologists point out that 51% of Russian citizens know who heads the Defense Ministry. At the same time 49% of people consider that the ministry works bad while 19% think the opposite and 33% were puzzled with the question.
Such criticism towards the ministry 20% of Russians consider to be related with chaos and lawlessness in the armed forces, 15% think that the absence of actions from the Defense Ministry causes troubled situation among privates and officers due to poor financing while 13% suppose that the ministry is responsible for the long-standing Chechnya campaign.
Russian people, who are positive about the ministry's work, say that Russia is calm, no international conflicts start and there is no war (2%), everything is being settled in Chechnya, Chechnya became silent and calmed down (2%), there are no violations on the border (1%). Some people praise the Defense Ministry for the fact that the army is stable (1%), military reform is underway (1%) and domestic military equipment is the best worldwide (1%).