Ruling United Russia party's approval rating hits lowest level since start of full-scale war

Approval ratings for the ruling United Russia party hit their lowest point in over four years this week, with two separate state-run pollsters recording sharp declines.

Russia’s Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) registered a drop of three percentage points, to 33% — the lowest figure since February 2022. The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM), the other major state pollster, found an even steeper fall, with support for the party down 2.6 points to 32.7%.

Asked about the week's most notable events, FOM respondents cited the war in Ukraine, an ongoing nationwide fuel crisis, and Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries warehouses.

The fuel crisis has gripped Russia since early June, triggered by Ukrainian strikes on oil refineries. Gasoline and diesel shortages are now affecting most Russian regions as well as occupied Crimea, and fuel prices have continued to climb.

At the same time, Ukrainian forces have spent the past week targeting Wildberries logistics centres across Russia, launching drone attacks on facilities in the Moscow, Tambov, Voronezh, Leningrad, Krasnodar, and Stavropol regions, as well as St. Petersburg.

Vladimir Putin’s own approval rating, by contrast, ticked upward after two months of decline. VTsIOM recorded a 0.2-point rise to 65.3%, while FOM logged a four-point jump to 70%. Even with the uptick, Putin’s approval remains among the lowest recorded since the start of the full-scale invasion.