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Ukrainians React Differently To Medvedev's Accusations


Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
KYIV -- A poll shows that Ukrainians perceive Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent accusations of Kyiv's anti-Russian behavior in different ways, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.

In the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, as well as in the capital, Kyiv, people reacted negatively to Medvedev's accusations.

But in the southern and eastern Ukrainian cities of Mykolayiv and Donetsk, respectively, respondents were not so critical of Medvedev's charges against Ukraine.

The findings were made by the Razumkov Center, which conducted a telephone poll of 3,040 people from August 12-18 in Kyiv, Lviv, Mykolayiv, Donetsk, and Simferopol.

Valeriy Chalyi, the international program director at the Razumkov Center, said the findings also show that a significant part of the Ukrainian population is not even aware of Medvedev's August 11 open letter to his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yushchenko.

Ukrainians in all cities, however, perceived Moscow's decision to hold off on dispatching a new ambassador to Ukraine as an unfriendly act.

Medvedev also indicated in the letter that he did not anticipate Ukrainian-Russian relations improving under Yushchenko and that he looked forward to new leadership in Ukraine after presidential elections in January.
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