The weekly rating of Vladimir Putin, typically published by the state-owned VTsIOM every Friday, has mysteriously disappeared from the public domain. As reported by The Moscow Times, the sudden silence from state pollsters suggests a desperate attempt by the Kremlin to conceal a sharp erosion of trust in the Russian dictator, which has hit historic lows.
Analysis shows that the data was not released during the May holidays or the following work week. Interestingly, the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) managed to record a drop in Putin’s approval rating to 73%, the lowest level since February 2022. It is clear that the regime is trying to weather the storm of negative news, but the sociological trend is undeniable.
The scale of the decline is staggering: over the last 14 weeks, the approval rating has fallen by more than 12 percentage points. This scenario echoes the 2018 pension reform backlash, which triggered a significant drop in popularity. Today, however, the situation is compounded by the ongoing war and heightened social tension. Furthermore, qualitative polls focusing on “trust” show even more devastating figures: Putin’s trust rating has plunged to 29.5%, the lowest since the start of the full-scale invasion.
Political analyst Abbas Gallyamov argues that even these “sanitized” figures do not reflect reality. They merely indicate the ratio between those who still fear the state apparatus and those who are beginning to lose their fear of the regime. Despite internet censorship, VPN crackdowns, and strict surveillance, the public’s attitude toward the authorities is fundamentally shifting. Compared to the peaks of 2024, support for the dictator has plummeted by over a third.
The decision to halt the publication of these ratings is likely a strategic attempt to prevent panic among the political elite. Just as the Kremlin attempts to mask its failure to maintain control over the socio-economic narrative, the regime is struggling to maintain an illusion of total unity where it no longer exists. The systemic crisis within Russia is deepening, and the absence of fresh sociological data only confirms that the Kremlin is caught in a state of confusion, facing the grim reality of numbers that signal the end of the “stability” era.