A tenth of all Russians would believe that extra-terrestrials had visited the planet if it were officially announced by President Vladimir Putin, a survey has revealed.

As reported by TASS, the survey conducted by Rambler&Co asked 116,000 Russians about their views about aliens.

"One in ten Russians would believe that a UFO [had] visited if the head of state talked about it; 6% would believe it if reported by official media, and 3% would trust their friends," the study says.

The survey also reveals that nearly half of the respondents (49%) would only believe if they saw them with their own eyes, 20% would trust research conducted by renowned scientists, and 12% would be convinced by video evidence.

Belief in intelligent life on other planets is significantly more prevalent among Russians. According to the survey, 33% of participants are firmly convinced of the existence of aliens, while an additional 27% have a keen interest in the topic. Additionally, 10% of respondents believe that authorities are hiding information about UFOs, while 9% are certain that aliens are already present among us on Earth. 21% categorically deny the existence of any extra-terrestrial life.

When it comes to the intentions of aliens, opinions among Russians are divided. About 24% believe extra-terrestrials would be hostile towards humans, while 23% think these civilisations would be friendly. More than half (53%) of the participants believe that the discovery of human life would be as shocking to aliens as the discovery of alien life would be to humans. 67% of those surveyed think that an extra-terrestrial race would differ significantly from humans in both appearance and level of development.