Putin's Approval Rating Sees Biggest Weekly Drop Since 2022 Amid Fuel Crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s approval rating has fallen at its fastest weekly pace since 2022, according to polling data from two major Russian state-linked survey organizations.

The independent Russian outlet Agentstvo reported that the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), which regularly conducts polling for the Kremlin, recorded a 5-percentage-point drop in the share of Russians who approve of Putin’s performance.

According to the latest survey, 66% of respondents said they approve of Putin’s work as president, down from 71% a week earlier. FOM has not recorded such a steep weekly decline since late September and early October 2022, when Russia announced its partial military mobilization.

The poll also found that 16% of respondents now disapprove of Putin’s performance, the highest level recorded since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Public trust in Putin also declined, though less sharply. According to FOM, 67% of respondents said they trust the Russian president, down 2 percentage points from the previous week, while 20% said they do not trust him, up 2 percentage points. Both figures mark the most unfavorable levels recorded since the start of the war.

Support for the Russian government also weakened. The share of respondents who positively assessed the government’s performance fell 4 percentage points to 41%, while 37% expressed a negative view.

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Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s approval rating also dropped 3 percentage points to 49%.

A separate survey by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) also showed a continued decline in support for Putin, with his approval rating falling for the third consecutive week.

According to VTsIOM, Putin’s approval rating declined 0.9 percentage points over the past week to 65.1%, down from 70.4% in mid-June. Trust in the president also slipped 1.3 percentage points to 71%, compared with 76.7% in mid-June.

While VTsIOM recorded falling support for Putin, it reported rising approval for the Russian government and Mishustin, with government approval increasing to 45.6% and Mishustin’s rating climbing to 47.3%.

According to Agentstvo, the main factor behind the decline in Putin’s ratings appears to be Russia’s growing fuel crisis.

For the second consecutive week, respondents identified fuel shortages as the country’s most important issue, cited by 19% of those surveyed. The war in Ukraine ranked second at 18%, followed by attacks on Russian territory at 14%.

The outlet also noted that deteriorating economic sentiment may be contributing to the decline. A recent survey by the independent Levada Center found that Russian consumer confidence in June fell to its lowest level since the autumn of 2022.