After Putin approval rating hits wartime low, Russia's state pollster revises methodology
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Russia's state-controlled polling agency VTsIOM announced on May 15 that it is changing the methodology used for its weekly approval surveys of Russian President Vladimir Putin following a sharp decline in the Kremlin's ratings in early 2026.
Putin's approval rating fell by 12.2 percentage points between late December and late April, reaching 65.6% — the lowest level recorded during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
VTsIOM's data had shown a steady decline in Putin's ratings as the effects of Russia's worsening economic downturn and tightening online repression became increasingly visible.
Previously, the surveys were conducted entirely through telephone interviews using what VTsIOM described as a "random sample of mobile numbers."
Beginning in May, the pollster said it would switch to a "combined sample" system, with half of respondents surveyed by phone and the other half through door-to-door interviews.
Under the new methodology, Putin's approval rating for the week of May 4–10 rose to 66.8%, marking the first increase since December 2025. His trust rating also increased from 71% to 72.1%.
"We've noticed that lately, during our telephone surveys, we've been falling short on respondents in certain age groups, to put it in our own slang," VTsIOM representative Vladimir Mamonov said.
The pollster also linked the methodological change to growing difficulties in conducting phone surveys in Russia, saying communication restrictions and anti-spam filters had "significantly changed" conditions for polling and made Russians more cautious.
