Page 30 - RusRPTJun20

Among those who said they intended to take part in the vote on constitutional change, 58% said they would back the changes and only 25% vote against them.
“What is important is that those that are ‘for’ are very well mobilised and are ready to come (and vote),” said Volkov.
When asked about the fall in the ratings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attempted to downplay the result.
“I’m not inclined to entirely trust Levada’s polls,” Peskov told reporters. “There are other polls, which give a different picture.” A survey from state-run pollster VTsIOM gave Putin a trust rating of 69.8% in April.
The widely respected Levada polls have been in the spotlight recently after the new pro-Kremlin editor at leading Russian language daily Vedomosti banned their use and has reportedly been Bowdlerising articles that are too critical of Putin or the government.
Vedomosti was set up as a joint venture between the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal and Independent Media, the owner of the English-langue Moscow Times. It quickly became a bastion of independent reporting and the market leader. It remains a media powerhouse, despite its recent troubles, and widely read.
Levada said the survey was conducted on April 24-27 and that 1,608 people had been polled across Russia.
Other results
The full impact of the coronavirus epidemic have yet to hit the Levada polls which were last updated in March. However, most of the indicators were slipping slightly as the impact of the oil price shock hit the country and unsettled respondents.
Notably the approval of the government slipped by two percentage points and the public are now equally divided between support and disapproval at 48% for each, with 2% abstaining. The Duma itself remains deeply unpopular with 54% disapproving against 42% that approve of its work in March.
Another key group is the regional governors which retained their high approval rating of 65% against 32% that disapprove and 3% abstentions. It remains to be seen if this will fall in April, however, by passing the buck to the regional governors in the coronavirus fight Putin has created an opportunity for governors to further extend their lead over Putin’s popularity if they are seen to make a good job of it.
Finally, the number of respondents that see Russia as “going in the right direction” fell slightly in March to 48% from 53% a month earlier, while those who believe it is going in the wrong direction were up from 38% to 42%.
30​ RUSSIA Country Report​ June 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com