Trust in Putin has fallen to its lowest level during the entire war amid attacks on oil refineries and rising gasoline prices.

Trust in Vladimir Putin fell from 74% to 69% over the week, according to a survey by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), conducted June 19–21. This is the minimum for the entire war: even during the days of mobilization in September 2022, after the retreat from Kherson in November 2022 and during the rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin in June 2023, the figure did not go below 74–76%. The current drop is already the second in three months: the previous survey, down to 71%, was recorded on March 29, after which the figure remained in the 71–74% range for almost three months. The FOM recorded the share of those who assess Putin’s work well at 71% compared to 75% a week earlier.

The rating of the Russian government has been updated for at least a year: 44% of respondents called the work of the cabinet good versus 48% a week earlier, the share of those dissatisfied increased to 34%. The rating of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin remained almost unchanged and remained at 52%.

The drop in ratings coincided with a sharp increase in the share of Russians who noticed the rise in gasoline prices: it jumped from 38% to 48% in one week, FOM data on price dynamics show - this is the maximum for the year. The gasoline shortage itself and its rise in price were also among the events of the week that respondents named without prompting in an open-ended question: this topic was mentioned by 5% of respondents, about the same as the drone attack on a bus with Belarusian children in the Bryansk region.

But significantly more often respondents talked about the war: the North Military District as a whole and “successes of the army” were mentioned by 16% of respondents, shelling of Russian regions - 14%, a drone attack on Moscow and a fire at the Kapotnya oil refinery - 11%. All this interested the Russians more than the fuel crisis.

The general mood has become more alarming: 53% of respondents called their surroundings alarming versus 51% a week earlier, and 40% versus 43% considered their surroundings calm. The protest potential has not changed noticeably: 17% of respondents are ready to personally participate in the protests compared to 14% a week earlier, within the normal fluctuations of this indicator.