Page 25 - RusRPTOct22

2.13 Putin & government’s popularity
Since the war in Ukraine started Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating shot up and remained consistently between 82-83%, according to the independent pollster the Levada Centre.
However, in September it took its first hit and fell to a still very high 77%. The Levada poll was concluded in September before the rout in the east of the Russian army by Ukraine as part of its highly successful counter offensive.
Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has also enjoyed an uplift in his approval ratings with the war lifting his rate from the mid50s into the range of 69-72% since the war started, although his approval rating was already rising at the start of the year thanks to his competence on the job. But Mishustin also suffered a small setback in September with his rating dropping to 66%. (chart)
The performance of the government has been the biggest winner from the war. Previously the government approval rating was evenly balanced between approval and disapproval in an almost 50/50 split. For most of last year the net balance was a few percentage points to the negative side, but that flipped into a small net positive at the start of this year.
But since the war started the approval of the government has markedly improved with the approval rating jumping from 55% in February to 70% in March after the hostilities began. Since then the government’s approval has
25 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com