MOSCOW, July 1 (UPI) -- Support among Russians for restoring the death penalty is waning, a poll released Monday indicates, though Moscovites still heavily favor its return.
The poll by the Levada Center, found 38 percent support capital punishment to the extent it was applied before a 1996 moratorium, and 16 percent favor its expansion, the Russian state news agency ITAR-Tass reported. The total, 54 percent, is lower than the 61 percent who favored it in 2012, or the 68 percent who supported it in 2002.
Men and the elderly, at 54 percent and 61 percent, respectively, favor capital punishment, as do 77 percent of Moscow residents, the newspaper Izvestia reported, noting urban residents approve of capital punishment more so than those in rural regions.
