Putin’s Approval Rating Falls to Record Low Amid Ukrainian Incursion in Kursk

The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) has reported a record decline in both Vladimir Putin’s approval and trust ratings. Independent verification of VTsIOM’s data is currently lacking.

VTsIOM’s report indicates that Putin’s approval rating fell by 3.5 percentage points to 73.6% during the week of August 12 to 18, down from 77.1% the previous week. Respondents were asked whether they generally approve or disapprove of the president’s activities.

Similarly, VTsIOM found that the level of trust in Putin decreased by 2.6 percentage points to 78.2%, compared to 80.8% the week before. Participants were inquired whether they trust or distrust Vladimir Putin.

This represents the largest drop in both metrics since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. During the war, the approval rating fell below 73.6% only during the summer and fall of 2023, following the mutiny led by Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. The lowest recorded approval rating was 72.6% for the week of August 7 to 13, 2023.

Trust in Putin dropped below 78% twice during the war: once in the fall-winter of 2022-2023 due to mobilization, and again in the summer-fall of 2023 after Prigozhin’s mutiny. The minimum recorded trust rating was 76.7% for the week of July 31 to August 6, 2023.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces began an offensive in the border areas of the Kursk region on August 6. As a result, 133,000 people have fled from the border areas. Ukrainian forces now control over 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory and 93 settlements, reported Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief Syrskyi.