Nearly 70% of Russians consider themselves religious, most of these identify as Orthodox Christians: Survey

Asurvey conducted in Russia recently hasrevealed that nearly 70 per cent of the citizens consider themselves religious.Citing thesurvey, local media reported on Tuesday (May 21) that most of those who said they have religious beliefs identified themselves asOrthodox Christians.

The survey said that the proportion of followers of other branches of Christianity or Islam wasatseven per cent in Russia. Another one per cent of respondents said they were Buddhistsanda further one per cent said they were followers of Judaism.

28% of respondents non-religious: Survey

The survey also revealed that 28 per cent of the respondents described themselves as non-religious. Of these, more than one-third of the people were betweenthe ages of18 and 24.

The survey highlighted thatreligious believers were more likely to participate in various volunteer activities compared to people who were not religious by a margin of 34 per centto 17 per cent.

Earlier this month, a similar surveywas conductedby theRussian Public Opinion Research Centerwhichshowed that 78 per cent of the respondents considered themselves religious. Of these,two-thirds were Orthodox Christians.

'Orthodoxy deeply rooted in Russians'consciousness'

In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin said thatOrthodoxy, Eastern Christianity, was deeply rootedintheconsciousness oftheRussian people.

"When Russia expanded andabsorbed other nations who profess Islam, Buddhism andJudaism, Russia has always been very loyal tothose people who profess other religions.Thisis its strength.Thisis absolutely clear," President Putin told Tucker Carlson.

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"Bytheway, Russian authorities were alwaysvery carefulabout theculture andreligion ofthose peoples who came tojoin theRussian Empire.This,inmyopinion, forms thebasis ofboth security andstability oftheRussian statehood– all thepeoples inhabiting Russiabasicallyconsider it their Motherland," Putin added.

(With inputs from agencies)