Page 25 - RusRPTNov20

Right direction: ​Sentiment towards the general direction the country was going improved over the summer with a belief the country is going in the “right direction” improving from the low of 42 in April to a high of 51 in August after the lockdowns were lifted.
But since then the mood has started to sour again with the “right direction” index falling by 1pp each month to reach 49 in October. The coming months are likely to see further falls.
Most of the changes in the direction of the country poll have been driven by those that were unsure and changing their mind to become more optimistic. Those that think the country is going in the wrong direction have been pretty consistent at 40-42 all year.
Putin approval: ​the approval of the president has barely changed, falling from 69 in September to 68 in October. But that still higher or equal to all the previous months, bar February when his approval was also 69. Putin’s approval rating has recovered all the ground lost from April when his popularity crashed to 53 with his disapproval rising from the normal 33-34 to a peak of 45 that month as the worst of the coronavirus epidemic hit.
Mishustin approval: ​Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin approval rating is also a solid 58 with another 38 disapproving and 4 unsure. These numbers are up from the spring when his approval rating fell to 46 in April during the worst of the coronacrisis.
Interestingly his disapproval rating in April was only 23 whereas the “don't know” spiked to 32, as compared with 4 that don't know in October. Spring was obviously a time of uncertainty and Mishustin was not blamed fro the crisis, but in the meantime the public have taken a view on his work and the majority have decided he has noth done the best job. His approval rating has gained 12 points between April and October, whereas his disapproval rating has gained 15 points.
Regional governors: ​The regional governors have a very similar profile to Putin except their approval rating in October is slightly less positive (62) and the disapproval is slightly higher (35).
The positive view of the governors has been more robust than that of Putin as their approval rating has been consistently over 60 all year and slipped only 4pp in April during the worst of the crisis to 61 – briefly overtaking Putin in popularity. Where the variances come in is in the disapproval ratings that swing between 27 and 35. Notably the governors’ lowest disapproval rating came in April when the other senior members had their highest disapproval.
25 ​RUSSIA Country Report​ November 2020 www.intellinews.com