Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval has fallen to its lowest level since he became head of state in 2000, a position he only left between 2008 and 2012 to become prime minister, according to the latest poll released Wednesday by the Levada Center.
According to the survey, the level of discharge from the president has fallen to 59 percent, although the demoscopic institute warns that this time, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they have been consulted by phone and not in person to the sample of 1,608 people surveyed between April 24 and 27.
The data is below 63 percent in March and 69 percent in January and is far from the levels above the 80 percent it had between 2015 and 2018. Since 2019, Putin has been seeing how the broad support that he enjoyed among the Russians.
Putin also sees a decline in the Russians’ trust in him. Asked about the five or six politicians in whom they trust the most, his name is not the most cited and is only chosen by 28 percent, a figure that reflects a decrease of seven points compared to 35 percent in January. In this section, the most valued politician is Guenadi Ziuganov, the leader of the Communist Party, who has held the post since 1993.
On the other hand, 42 percent of Russians believe the country is on the wrong track, while 42 percent believe it is going in the right direction and 17 percent say it is a “difficult question to answer.”
