President Vladimir Putin is facing criticism in much of the world for his decision to invade Ukraine, but the president’s popularity in Russia has skyrocketed.
The 83 percent of Russians said they approved of Putin’s actions, that means 14 percentage points vs. 14 percent in January, according to a survey by the Levada Center.
This pollster operates independently in Moscow and the results of Putin’s approval have surprised them, explains a journalist from The New York Times in Russia.
The qualifications of other government institutions, as well as the party government, have also increased, the survey indicated.
Denis Volkov, director of the Levada pollster, explained that although the Russians expressed “shock and confusion” at the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the sanctions economic forces of the US and its NATO allies have made the population believe that their country is “under siege”, for which they consider that they should support their leader.
“The confrontation with the West it has consolidated people,” Volkov said.
The expert acknowledged that some respondents said they did not support Putin , but they considered that it was time to do so, since they felt that the world was against Russia.
“Putin defends us, otherwise they would eat us alive”, the respondents have expressed.
It should be noted that the polling company is considered a “foreign agent” in Russia, so their work is far removed from the state polls.
The Putin regime has blocked independent and foreign media in Russia, following similar actions in much of the world against media considered propagandists, including the RT system and the Spunik agency.