The percentage of Russians expressing disappointment in President Vladimir Putin has more than doubled in the dozen years that an independent social research institution has been polling the public. But even at its current 22%, Putin’s disapproval rating would be the envy of any Western leader.

The Levada Center, which has regularly surveyed 1,600-plus Russians on an array of social and political issues, on Friday reported the results of its July polling, noting that the percentage of respondents disappointed with the Russian leader had gone up from 10% in 2001.

Putin has presided over a declining relationship with the United States since returning to the presidency last year after a stint as prime minister. The 2013 poll, however, was conducted before the latest dust-up between the former superpowers over fugitive U.S. National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden. President Obama earlier this week canceled a September summit with Putin, citing Moscow’s decision to grant Snowden temporary asylum in Russia among the reasons the White House deemed it the wrong time for a one-on-one meeting.

The latest poll [link in Russian] doesn’t seek to measure approval versus disapproval of Putin, rather it asks respondents to agree or disagree with assessments of the leader’s abilities and qualities.


Negative accounts of Putin’s performance as Kremlin chief have risen across the board in comparison with the first Levada survey in 2001, a year after Putin, a former KGB operative, came to power. Agreement with positive statements about Putin have dropped slightly, indicating disillusionment with the man many Russians once saw as committed to their well-being over the interests of the wealthy and connected.

The share of Russian respondents expressing “unconditional support” for Putin was reported at 14%, down from 19% when the surveys began.

In both the 2001 poll and the survey last month, Russians said they thought Putin’s first priority was serving the interests of the security services. But respondents earlier ranked the leader’s secondary interests as the Kremlin inner circle and “the common man,” while the 2013 survey ranked “oligarchs and state bureaucrats” as next in line to receive Kremlin favors.

The qualities that poll respondents cited as admirable in Putin have changed over the years as well. The latest poll listed his top attributes as political experience, oratory skill, professionalism and intellect. The first survey cited approval for his judgment, energy and “manliness.”


Alexei Grazhdankin, deputy director of the Levada Center, said support for any leader so long in power would be expected to drop over the years, and that the majority of respondents indicated they might vote for “someone new” in the next presidential election in 2018.

“But no comparable politician has appeared,” Grazhdankin observed.

One segment of Putin’s support that has changed little over the years, according to the surveys, is the 17%-18% of the population saying they back the president because they see no alternative.

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Twitter: @cjwilliamslat


carol.williams@latimes.com