{"id":8067,"date":"2026-09-04T11:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T11:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8067"},"modified":"2026-09-04T11:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T11:38:25","slug":"putins-sinking-approval-ratings-are-a-warning-russians-are-frustrated-with-ukraine-war-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8067","title":{"rendered":"Putin’s sinking approval ratings are a warning Russians are frustrated with Ukraine war: experts"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Not even the Kremlin can protect him.<\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen his approval ratings plummet \u2014 despite controlling the polls \u2014 in what experts said was a sign of the growing frustration over the prolonged war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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Putin, who enjoyed approval numbers as high as 89% before invading his neighbor, has seen his popularity free-fall to about 65% in the latest state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) survey.<\/p>\n

The Public Opinion Foundation, which conducts surveys for the Kremlin, also found that support for Putin\u2019s performance fell from 71% to 66% in July, the steepest fall since the 2022 protests spurred by the Russian draft.<\/p>\n

The fact that the Kremlin\u2019s own surveys are reporting such numbers suggest that officials are sending a clear message to Putin: Plan your next moves carefully and end the war soon, Kateryna Stepanenko, the Russia Team Lead at the Institute for the Study of War think tank, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen support for Putin waning, albeit marginally, but it shows that his critical decisions in the war are forcing pollsters to show the active decline,\u201d Stepanenko said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may also signal that individuals inside the Kremlin are trying to use pollsters to send a message to Putin about the war,\u201d she added. \u201cSomeone is going out of there to show that interest in the war is waning.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Stepanenko pointed out that unlike North Korea, where dictator Kim Jong Un holds a 99% approval rating in state-run surveys, Russian polls are one of the few peepholes that reveal the populous\u2019 feelings for the Kremlin.<\/p>\n

Along with Putin\u2019s performance and approval ratings dropping, trust in the strongman has also declined from 76.7% in mid-June to 71% in the latest VTsIOM poll.<\/p>\n

The level of distrust, however, may be much higher. <\/p>\n

In a survey conducted by the Institute for Conflict Studies and Analysis of Russia, which presented a different question than those by the state-run pollsters, respondents in the Krasnodar and Rostov regions were asked, \u201cWhich Russian politician or statesman do you trust most of all?\u201d<\/p>\n

Only 39% of people named Putin in Krasnodar, and just 37% in Rostov \u2014 far below the numbers seen in the state polls.<\/p>\n

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With the war still raging in its fifth year, the Kremlin has been progressively losing its ability to shield Russian citizens and its elites from the impacts.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian attacks on refineries and online retailers are growing in frequency, with gas shortages and the effects of western sanctions increasing the pain in Russia, said John Hardie, deputy director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies\u2019 Russia program.<\/p>\n

While Putin is facing pressure from the public and Russia\u2019s oligarchs, it is still not enough to threaten his grip on Moscow. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a strong desire to end the war, but it\u2019s not likely that this trend will lead to major unrest or a palace coup,\u201d Hardie said. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Putin, however, is aware of the push back, which is likely causing him to act carefully and avoid triggering any more public unrest, as evidenced by his about-face over taking control of Telegram or refusal to repeat 2022\u2019s draft, Hardie and Stepanenko said. \u00a0<\/p>\n

But with Russia losing tens of thousands of troops along the frontlines every month and the need to nationalize businesses to support the war effort looming, Putin may not have a choice, Hardie added.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Putin\u2019s] likely waiting until after the elections this September\u00a0to announce a new wave of mobilizations,\u201d he surmised.<\/p>\n

Kaupo Rosin, the director general of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS), said last week that Putin\u2019s hold on power was at its most delicate it has ever been.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are cer\u00adtainly voices which express that he should keep going, but I think the voices which, let\u2019s say, urge [him] to maybe recon\u00adsider the situ\u00adation are becom\u00ading stronger,\u201d\u00a0Rosin told the Telegraph\u00a0while assessing the \u201cinternal tension\u201d Moscow faces.<\/p>\n

Read more US Open influencers kicked out after posting credentials to \u2018show how hot\u2019 they are<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russian President Vladimir Putin has seen his approval ratings free-fall \u2014 despite controlling the polls \u2014 in what experts said was a sign of the growing frustration over the prolonged war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPutin's sinking approval ratings are a warning Russians are frustrated with Ukraine war: experts - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=8067\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putin's sinking approval ratings are a warning Russians are frustrated with Ukraine war: experts - 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