69.5 pct of Russians support Putin in election: poll

MOSCOW, Feb. 25 — Russian President Vladimir Putin has the
support of nearly 70 percent of the public for next month’s presidential
election, the latest public opinion poll showed Thursday.

According to the survey conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research
Center (VTsIOM), 69.5 percent of respondents said they would vote for
Putin. Pavel Grudinin, the candidate from Russian Communist Party, was
second with 7.5 percentp The survey, conducted from Feb. 12 to Feb. 18,
polled 7,000 respondents nationwide by telephone. Respondents were asked
the question: “If the presidential election were held next Sunday, for
which candidate would you most likely vote?” The Russian presidential
election is scheduled for March 18.It is widely expected that Putin will
win by a landslide. – XINHUA