Investors see Russia as the greatest threat to global financial markets, blowing the deadly Ebola virus and Islamic State terrorists out of the water, said a poll released Monday by Bloomberg Global Poll.
Of five options offered by the pollsters, the Russia-Ukraine conflict was cited by 52 percent of Bloomberg Professional services users as being the market's top threat, with the Islamic State a distant second with 26 percent.
Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March and subsequent support of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine set off a battle of sanctions and counter-sanctions between the West and Russia that has seen both sides step up their military presence in eastern Europe and shows no sign of abating.
The 510 analysts, investors and traders polled also said Russia would be the biggest loser from the fall in global oil prices, which have hit lows not seen since 2010.
The poll was conducted by U.S. firm Selzer and Company between Nov. 11 and 12, and had a margin of error of 4.3 percent.