MOSCOW, Aug. 9 - Two-thirds (62%) of Russian citizens interviewed as part of a recent survey described the situation in the east of Ukraine as tense; another 20% called it critical and explosive (the highest percentage of respondents backing this view since October 2015), the Levada Center told Interfax.

A mere 8% of respondents to the survey, which was conducted in 137 populated localities in 48 Russian regions on July 22-25 and involved 1,600 people, described the situation in Donbas as calm, and 1% called it safe.