Page 18 - RusRPTAug20

In January 52% of respondents said that the country was going in the right direction and 39% said it was going in the wrong direction, with only 10% undecided.
In July the number of respondents that say Russia is going in the right direction has fallen to 42% with 40% saying it is going in the wrong direction with most of the fall from those in the “right” camp moving to the “undecided” camp which is up 8pp to 18%, or nearly one in five Russians.
At the same time the propensity to protests with economic demands has also increased​ by 4pp since the start of the year. Those that said they may protest has increased from 26% in February to 30% in July, and those that said they will definitely participate in such protests increased from 24% in February to 29% in July, which suggests a solidifying anti-government resolve that is on display in the mass protests in Khabarovsk in July.
Eight out of ten (83%) of respondents have heard about the protest actions in Khabarovsk. Almost every second of them had a positive attitude towards people who took part in these actions, Levada reports.
The rising anti-government sentiment is largely driven by the increasingly difficult financial position many Russians find themselves in​: ​71% of Russian residents between May and July began to spend less and save more; 52% began to spend savings on current needs; 26% borrowed from relatives or friends; and 18% took loans, according to a report by Levada in July.
18​ RUSSIA Country Report​ August 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com