Kremlin orders media to stop reporting Putin’s slumping approval
Vladimir Putin (Photo: REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov)
The Kremlin has ordered state and pro‑Kremlin media
not to report on Vladimir Putin’s declining
approval ratings, as internet restrictions tighten, independent Russian
outlet Meduza reported on April 24.
According to a source in a Kremlin-aligned media organization, the administration instructed outlets to cite ratings from the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) rather than the All‑Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VCIOM), or to avoid reporting the figures at all.
VCIOM data published by Russian outlet Agentstvo show Putin’s approval rating continued to decline for the seventh week in a row from April 12 to 19, falling 1.1 percentage points to 65.6%, the lowest level recorded since Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, The Moscow Times reported.
VCIOM also said public approval of the government slipped to 39.7% (down 0.5 percentage point) and approval of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin fell to 44.3% (down 0.4 point). At the same time, support for Putin’s United Russia party rose 0.4 point to 27.7%.
The trend comes amid broader moves by the Kremlin to limit
online information flow. The Moscow Times noted that Putin has long expressed
distrust of the internet, saying in 2014 it was “invented by the CIA,” and in
2017 urged BRICS nations to build an alternative domain name system to shield their
populace from Western “information influence.”
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