Another new poll shows Russians’ support for Putin at its lowest since February 2022

Seventy-three percent of Russians approve of Vladimir Putin’s performance in the country’s presidency, according to a new poll by the Kremlin-affiliated pollster the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) — the lowest rating the agency has recorded since February 2022.

In the survey, which was conducted between 24 and 26 April, 73% of respondents said they think Putin is doing a good job, while 13% said he is doing a poor job. The remaining 14% were unsure.

One week earlier, a FOM poll found that 76% of respondents had a positive view of Putin’s work, while 74% said they trusted him.

The results indicate that from mid to late April, the share of Russians who consider Putin to be doing a poor job rose by two percentage points, from 11% to 13%. Over the same period, the share of those who said they don’t trust Putin rose by three percentage points, from 14% to 17%.

The independent outlet Agentstvo noted that the share of FOM respondents who said they have a positive view of Putin’s work is at its lowest level since 25–27 February 2022, when it was at 71%.

Other polls also indicate Putin’s popularity is falling. On 30 April, the independent Levada Centre published the results of a survey indicating that for the first time since Putin announced mobilisation in fall 2022, his approval ratings had dropped below 80%.

Meanwhile, the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) has recorded seven straight weeks of falling support for Putin. According to its most recently published data, which was released on 24 April, 24.1% of respondents said they did not trust Putin, while 23.3% said they didn’t approve of his work.