18% of Russians Consider the Fall of the Berlin Wall as a Negative Event

18% of Russians consider the fall of the Berlin Wall to be a negative event, and 12% hear about the events of November 9, 1989 for the first time, according to a sociological survey of the Levada Center, conducted between October 24 and 30 among 1616 Russians over the age of 18 Vedomosti writes.

53% of Russians asked have basic knowledge of the fall of the Berlin Wall. 35% of respondents are aware of the fall of the Wall, most of them over 55 years of age. One percent cannot answer. The proportion of those who positively appreciate the fall of the Wall has fallen by almost a third in 10 years. In 2009, 63% of those polled described the event as very good or rather good, while in 2019 only 43% chose this answer - mostly people over 40.

People looking negatively at the fall of the Berlin Wall have increased from 11% to 18% since 2009. Twenty years ago, 21% of Russians thought that events in the German capital had a negative effect on the world. When asked how they felt about the events, 35% said they were not interested. A similar question was presented for the first time in the survey and 54% of the respondents were between 18 and 24 years old. According to Levada Center director Lev Gudkov, the Russians consider the fall of the Berlin Wall as the second most important event in 1989, after the withdrawal of the Soviet army from Afghanistan. Although the Russians have forgotten the significance of the November 9, 1989 event, polls show that citizens still consider the fall of the Wall a historic event, ending the Cold War and warming Moscow's relations with Western Europe. According to Gudkov, the memory of the events of 30 years ago is preserved in the elderly. That is why the questionnaire 'I hear about it for the first time' and 'I'm not interested'...