Putin’s Approval Rating Rises in Russia

The war in Ukraine has placed global leaders at the forefront of matters in 2022. A series of polls have been monitoring citizens’ confidence in their leaders. Not surprisingly, the international confidence level in Russian President Vladimir Putin has fallen in the western world. However, Putin and his fellow political leaders have allegedly seen an uptick in confidence levels within Russia.

In the United States, a poll from the Pew Research Center shows confidence in President Putin’s actions has fallen to 6%, according to Newsweek.

The Russian people were polled by the independent Levada Center about their confidence in President Putin’s actions. The Russian leader’s approval rating from the poll’s data rose from 71% to 83% from February to March, U.S. News reported.

Russian confidence in its leaders rose for others closely linked to Putin. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin also increased in the polls to a 71% approval rating from 59% in February, Newsweek reported.

According to Newsweek, the most trusted global leader facing scrutiny over the last month was Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. Based on the Pew Research Center poll data, the Ukrainian leader has an approval rating of 72% among Americans. 

Confidence in the U.S. President Joe Biden was more divided than among the other major players in the Ukrainian conflict. President Biden’s approval rating in terms of international affairs reached 48%, with 52% showing little or no confidence in the U.S. president, The Dallas Express reported.

The response of President Biden to the conflict in Ukraine has been heavily scrutinized. A Quinnipiac University poll showed that public opinion moved away from President Biden’s handling of the Ukrainian conflict. Less than half of those polled favored the U.S. response to the Russian invasion at 49%. Only 42% of those surveyed were happy with Biden’s response.

Global leaders have generally not experienced high levels of support for their response to the crisis in Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was already under pressure for his response to COVID-19 and the “Partygate” scandal when Russia invaded, New Indian Express reported.

Former UK Prime Minister David Cameron has publicly stated his unhappiness with the response of the Conservative Government. CNN reported that Cameron recently went on record calling President Putin a war criminal. 

Despite global criticism of Russia’s recent actions in Ukraine, the Russian public seems to continue supporting Putin and the war.