More Russians see U.S. as threat: poll

Amid diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Washington, more and more Russians are seeing the United States as a threat, an opinion poll has showed.

According to the poll conducted by Levada Center, 59 percent of Russians see the United States as the main threat for their country, an increase of 12 percentage points from a similar poll in 2007.

Specifically, 48 percent of the respondents believed that Washington wants to hamper Russia's social and economic development. Forty percent suspected that the United States was trying to take a grip on the Russian economy, and 36 percent were wary of attempts to impose U.S. ideology and values in Russia.

Thirty-one percent were afraid of military intervention from the United States while 24 percent feared the United States would take over the political leadership in Russia.

Meanwhile, the number of people believing that the United States does not pose any real threat to their country was down from 42 percent in 2007 to 32 percent now.

The Levada Center has polled 1,600 respondents in 46 regions with a margin of error of less than 3.4 percent. Endi