Over 80% of Russians Approve of Putin’s Work as President – Poll

A total of 81 percent of Russians approve of the work carried out by Vladimir Putin as the Russian president, a poll revealed Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Last year, a similar poll suggested that some 89 percent of Russians were in favor of Putin’s policies.

According to the poll conducted by the non-profit Levada Center, 51 percent of Russian nationals approve of the work carried out by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, while only 48 percent of Russians are satisfied with the work of the government as a whole.

Half of the respondents said that the country was moving "in the right direction," while 33 percent expressed the opposite point of view and the rest could not give a definite answer.

Just over 50 percent said they were happy with the work of the governors, according to the poll. The State Duma’s work was approved by 41 percent of the respondents.

This year’s list of most trusted politicians was headed by Putin, with 51 percent of support. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov followed suit, with 24 and 17 percent of public trust respectively, the poll revealed.

The survey was conducted on June 23 — 27 among 1,600 people aged 18 years and older across 137 settlements of 48 regions of the country.