Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has been declining for the fourth consecutive week amid the country’s deepening fuel crisis, according to a survey released by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) on July 17.
The latest poll shows Putin’s approval rating falling to 65.1%, its lowest level since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine. Over the past week, his support dropped by 0.9 percentage points, bringing the total decline over the last month to 5.3 points.
According to The Moscow Times, the current decline is steeper than the drop recorded after the Kremlin announced mobilization in the fall of 2022 or following Ukraine’s operation in Russia’s Kursk region in August 2024. During those periods, Putin’s rating fell by 3.3% and 5.1%, respectively, over four weeks.
The share of Russians who disapprove of Putin’s performance has risen to 23.4%, nearly matching the 24.4% who disapprove of the government’s performance. Putin’s disapproval rating now exceeds that of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin by more than one and a half times.
Political analyst Ilya Grashchenkov argues that these figures reflect not temporary fluctuations but a sustained deterioration in public sentiment. According to him, fuel shortages and rising gasoline prices are eroding confidence in the government because they affect transportation, logistics, consumer prices, agriculture, and regional economies.
He added that Russian society is living under constant pressure, allowing even everyday economic problems to quickly evolve into political issues.
Political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya also notes that expectations of major changes are growing across Russia. Rumors are increasingly circulating about a possible new mobilization this autumn, a transition to a wartime economy, changes to the country’s governance model, and even the possible reintroduction of Soviet-style exit visas.
According to Stanovaya, Putin still appears convinced that Russia can win the war, but the gap between the country’s political leadership and society continues to widen. She believes that as his political position weakens, the Kremlin leader may become more radical, increasing the likelihood of further escalation and making scenarios once dismissed as bluff increasingly plausible.
Earlier reports suggested that Russia’s fuel crisis had already pushed Putin’s approval rating to its lowest level since 2018. In May, Russian authorities also changed the methodology used to calculate his approval rating following a record decline, but the adjustment failed to halt the downward trend.
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