Russian Trust in Putin Falls to Record 2024 Low Amid Kursk Incursion: Poll

Russian trust in President Vladimir Putin has fallen to a record 2024 low amid Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, according to a poll published Thursday by Russia's Levada Center, an independent research organization based in Moscow.

The poll, conducted from August 22 to 28 among 1,619 Russian adults, found that 45 percent of respondents named the Russian president among the politicians they trust. The figure is 3 percentage points lower than in July, and the lowest since October 2023, Russian investigative site Agentstvo said.

The Levada Center asked participants to "name a few politicians and public figures whom you trust the most."

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment by email.

Levada's latest poll was conducted just over two weeks into Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region, which is reported to have taken Moscow by surprise.

Kyiv launched its lightning offensive on August 6 and was quickly reported to have seized more territory in the Kursk region than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of 2024.

Ukraine's reported success in the region has forced Russia's military to deploy additional resources to Kursk, diverting manpower away from the war it started in across the border in February 2022.

Putin has ordered his forces to push back Ukrainian troops from Kursk by October 1, according to RBC Ukraine. The incursion has made Putin "nervous," independent Russian news outlet The Moscow Times reported last week, citing unnamed Kremlin officials.

Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, partially attributed the drop in Russian trust in Putin to the incursion, Agentstvo reported.

"An open question generally always shows much greater volatility," Volkov told the publication, adding that the incursion is likely to have played a role.

Agentstvo previously reported on August 22 that Ukraine's armored assault in Kursk has damaged Putin's image overall, citing an increase in negative and critical comments from Russians on social media.

Days into the incursion, multiple pro-war Russian military bloggers voiced their discontent on Telegram at how swiftly Kyiv's forces were reported to have seized Russian territory.

One called the situation "hell on earth" and suggested that the assault had been long-planned.

Russia's Levada Center has been assessing public attitudes towards Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine since it was launched in February 2022, as well as approval ratings of key political figures, including the Russian president.

The Levada Center is touted as one of Russia's most reputable and longest-operating independent pollsters, but researchers have emphasized that in autocracies, citizens are often afraid to answer questions about politics.

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