Following New Year's survey in Crimea, Kremlin says no to more electricity from Kiev

Valery Fyodorov, the general director of VTsIOM, Russia's state-owned and government-operated polling agency, defended against criticism a new survey conducted in Crimea on New Year's Eve. According to Fyodorov, the results would have been no different, if the poll had been conducted before or after Russia's biggest holiday celebration of the year.

“The important thing isn't the time the survey was conducted, but the dilemma facing Crimea: put up with power blackouts until May 1, until the energy bridge is fully completed, or agree to recognize Crimea as Ukrainian. And the Crimeans have made their choice clear,” Fyodorov said, alluding to Kiev's insistence that Crimean officials agree to call the peninsula Ukrainian territory, in order to gain access to Ukrainian electricity in 2016.

According to VTsIOM, 93 percent of people surveyed in Crimea said that they oppose any energy deal with Kiev that refers to their peninsula as a part of Ukraine. The poll also says 94 percent of people in Crimea are willing to endure temporary hardships until May, while construction workers finish the energy bridge from the mainland, if Russia refuses to sign an agreement with Kiev.

After the announcement of the poll's results, Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's official spokesperson, told reporters that Moscow will not likely be renewed. VTsIOM conducted the New Year's Eve survey in Crimea on Putin's orders.

“Can we believe surveys of people sitting around the New Year's table, some of whom have passed out in their potato salads? I don't know. Our poll was conducted between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on December 31, and between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on January 1. There's no record of any drunk or mumbling respondents,” Fyodorov wrote on Facebook.