Bogdan Frolov13:09, 26.04.26

Vladimir Putin’s approval rating has fallen to a record low of 65.6% amid the protracted war.

Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is facing growing discontent across all sectors of Russian society amid a protracted war with Ukraine, economic woes and growing resentment over restrictions on internet access.

Russia’s largest state-run pollster, the All-Russian Central Election Commission, on Friday reported that Putin’s approval rating had fallen to 65.6 percent, the lowest since the start of the war, down 12.2 percentage points since the beginning of the year. Assessing real public opinion is difficult in an authoritarian regime that exiles, imprisons or kills political opponents and outlaws criticism of the war, The Washington Post reported .

However, compared to Putin’s historical ratings (which reached 88%), the falling numbers signal a growing fatigue from the war, now in its fifth year, and from negotiations that have virtually reached a deadlock, while the administration of US President Donald Trump is focused on Iran.

The Russian economy is suffering greatly.

Economic sanctions are cutting deeper into the Russian economy, hitting citizens’ wallets, and the government’s desire to restrict access to the Internet under the pretext of security is irritating a society that has long enjoyed a high level of digitalization.

“The general mood is: enough is enough, you’ve been fighting long enough,” said one Russian official, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. “Everyone feels like this is going on longer than World War II, the Great Patriotic War – and yet we can’t take even one region,” he said, referring to Russia’s failed attempts since a full-scale invasion in 2022 to establish full control over the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

In recent weeks, Putin’s government has faced unusually open and harsh criticism from members of Russia’s financial elite over its management of the economy.

The economy shrank by 1.8% in the first two months of the year, according to Rosstat, as tightening sanctions and high interest rates continue to stifle investment. The volume of overdue payments on commercial accounts reached a record $109 billion in January. Meanwhile, the number of companies with tax arrears rose to 439,900, according to data from the firm Action Accounting.

One by one, businessmen and economists at an economic forum in Moscow earlier this month criticized the government for shrinking the economy. “People at the top have completely lost touch with reality on the ground, in the economy,” said Vladimir Bogalev, the head of a Russian tractor manufacturer. Those in power are actively “discrediting” themselves, Bogalev stressed.

Robert Nigmatulin, an economist at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told the forum that Russia was lagging behind China, with inflation far outstripping economic growth. “We have lost everything and yet we remain the poorest. Even in the poorest regions of China, incomes are higher than in our poorest regions,” Nigmatulin explained. “GDP growth since 2015 — for 11 years — has been about 1.5% per year. Do you know how much consumer prices have increased? By 77%.” He added: “Can we invest in a country with such leadership? You can’t run the economy like this.”

Meanwhile, a video by Victoria Boni, an influencer from Monaco, in which she sharply criticized internet restrictions and condemned the government’s actions on other problems of ordinary Russians went viral. This prompted the Kremlin to respond, emphasizing that the authorities are working on all the issues she raised.

Gennady Zyuganov, the longtime leader of the Communist Party, went even further in a speech to parliament this week, warning that “economic collapse is inevitable” if the problems are not addressed. “By the fall we will face what happened in 1917,” he said, referring to the Bolshevik Revolution.

Sanctions and Putin’s massive military spending have sent inflation skyrocketing, forcing the central bank to raise interest rates above 20% to cool the economy. Although the central bank has since cut rates to 14.5%, economists are increasingly warning of a “cooling off” and recession, according to media reports.

Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov recently said that Russia’s reserves are “largely depleted,” and Putin has publicly acknowledged the problems in the economy and called on the government to explain the slowdown in growth.

Russia’s economy, heavily dependent on oil revenues, has been given some respite from a surge in oil prices caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran, but economists say only a prolonged period of high prices will allow Russia to balance its budget.

“The Russian economy is currently in a strange ‘twilight zone’ between the positive effects of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and high commodity prices, and at the same time its own economic dynamics, which have deteriorated significantly in recent months,” explained Janis Kluge, an economist at the German Institute for International Security.

Russians are tired, but the problems don’t end

In addition, increased Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian ports and refineries forced Russia to cut oil production by 48,000 to 64,000 cubic meters (300,000 to 400,000 barrels) per day in April, the report said. This potentially wipes out some of the profits Moscow had been counting on from rising prices and Trump’s temporary lifting of sanctions on Russian oil.

“Problems are mounting, and we have long said that this time would come,” said the Russian academic, who has close ties to senior diplomats.

As citizens are forced to cut back on basic expenses and internet restrictions disrupt daily life, divisions are emerging across all sectors of society. “The discontent is very strong,” said Tetyana Stanova, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Center. “There’s a protracted war and financial difficulties, while young people are unhappy about being cut off from their familiar social media environment. Everywhere you look, there are problems. And where this will lead, we can’t say.”

“People are starting to speak out more boldly,” Stanova said, adding, however, that the authorities are likely to respond with increased repression, and there are no signs that the regime is at risk of losing control.

Russian public figure and politician Mikhail Khodorkovsky, in turn, noted that the initial patriotic upsurge from the war had dissipated. “The war has been going on for too long, and there are no clear changes. The fact that they won or lost three villages doesn’t really help,” Khodorkovsky explained.

For some in Russia, Trump’s decision to go to war with Iran has become a justification for Putin’s own war against Ukraine and could encourage the Kremlin to push ahead with its military goals, especially in seizing Donetsk. “Everyone believes that the Gulf War gives Russia a chance to fight longer against Ukraine and seize more territory,” said one Moscow businessman. “No one understands how long the war will last, and people are increasingly afraid that the state will take more and more from them.”

Iron Curtain

Against this backdrop, despair is growing, especially over internet restrictions that are reviving memories of Soviet repression. “People like us are very worried because we were born in a country we couldn’t leave,” said Tetiana, 53, a logistics manager. “We lived behind the Iron Curtain once and were sure it would never happen again. But it happened. Now we have a digital Iron Curtain.”

Others spoke of the depressing economic landscape. “From a business perspective, I see complete chaos – sales have fallen, people have less and less money, there are much fewer people in shopping malls, prices have doubled, and for fruits and vegetables – tripled,” said Iryna, 46. “Utility bills have gone up, taxes have also gone up.”

19-year-old student Igor described the growing despair: “In general, both I and my friends feel complete hopelessness, which cannot be helped. Everyone wants to leave, but most do not have such an opportunity. No one wants to associate their future with this country. Living here is difficult, expensive and gloomy.”

(c)UNIAN 2026