In Russia, Putin Sees Something Not Seen In Years: A Notable Drop In Approval Ratings

(Mike Eckel – RFE/RL) Maybe it’s the widespread state-ordered mobile Internet outages that have disrupted the lives of millions of Russians, in Moscow above all. Maybe it’s the Ukrainian drone attacks that have disrupted Russians’ flight plans and severely curtailed Russian oil exports in the Baltic Sea. Maybe it’s the mass culling of infected livestock that has sparked howls of outrage from farmers in Siberia. Maybe it’s the all-out war on Ukraine, which, despite Kremlin promises of swift victory, rages on in its fifth year, with Kyiv’s forces holding Russia to a near stalemate and Moscow’s war dead and wounded topping 1.2 million. Regardless of the reason, the fact is: Russian President Vladimir Putin is not as popular as he used to be. In recent weeks, a series of public opinion surveys — including two conducted by state-linked pollsters — have registered a decline in support for Putin. FOM, whose main customer is the Presidential Administration, a powerful policy-making body within the Kremlin, recorded the lowest level of public trust in Putin since September 2022. – In Russia, Putin Sees Something Not Seen In Years: A Notable Drop In Approval Ratings