The Orthodox faith is professed by 66 per cent of Russians who took part in the survey conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM). A quarter of Russians (29 per cent) observe Orthodox fasts, of which 16 per cent observe only some of them, and 11 per cent observe only Great Lent.
According to the results of the survey, the exact date for the start of fasting this year (March 15) was named by 14 per cent of Russians. Also, 16 per cent know that it starts after Maslenitsa and 51 per cent of the respondents know something about Lent but can not name the exact dates on which it is observed.
It also turned out that 13 per cent of Russians are planning to observe the fast this year. Usually, during Lent, Russians refuse to drink alcohol (21 per cent), have bad thoughts (19 per cent), and give alms (19 per cent). Many Russians stop using obscene words (18 per cent), start to attend church services (17 per cent), and refuse fatty and animal foods (16 per cent each).
Ru-Main, 16.03.2021
