Russian Citizens Call Kerch Strait Incident, Skripal Case Main Scandals Of 2018 - Poll

Russian citizens consider the Kerch Strait incident, and the developments in Ukraine, as well as the Skripal case to be the biggest scandals of the outgoing year, according to the results of a poll announced by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th December, 2018) Russian citizens consider the Kerch Strait incident, and the developments in Ukraine, as well as the Skripal case to be the biggest scandals of the outgoing year, according to the results of a poll announced by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) on Wednesday.

According to the survey, 10 percent of respondents named the Kerch Strait incident, in which three Ukrainian ships illegally crossed the Russian maritime border, as the main scandal of the year, while 8 percent chose the developments in Ukraine. The Skripal case closes the top-three with 7 percent.

The survey "VTsIOM-Sputnik" was conducted in December 2018. A total of 1,600 adult respondents from all over Russia responded to a phone interview survey. The margin of error is below 2.5 percent.

On November 25, Ukrainian gunboats Berdyansk and Nikopol, and tugboat Yany Kapu illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels and detained 24 crew members after they failed to respond to a demand to stop. After the incident, Ukrainian authorities declared a 30-day period of martial law in certain regions of the country and also banned male Russian citizens aged 16-60 from entering Ukraine.

Former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found slumped on a bench in a park in the UK town of Salisbury on March 4 after being exposed to a suspected nerve agent of the Novichok type. UK authorities accused Russia of being behind the murder attempt, a claim rejected by Moscow as baseless.