Category: Politics Monthly

The conflict changes the model. President Putin’s announcement in February 2022 of what he refers to as a “Special Military Operation” (SMO), marked a fundamental shift in how Russian domestic politics works, with rippling effects throughout the Eurasia region.

The monthly polls by the Levada Center reported a tangible fall in support for President Putin, the Russian government, and the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. This decline followed the announcement of partial mobilization on September 21st.

The monthly polls by Levada Center show that 83% of respondents approve of Vladimir Putin’s actions as President and 76% support the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. Both have been unchanged for months, reflecting the fact that politics is dominated by a single issue, and opinion on this has not changed much.

The monthly polls by the Levada Center show that 83% of respondents approve of Vladimir Putin’s actions as President and 76% support the special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine. These numbers were unchanged in July, and have been very stable since, despite the worsening performance of the economy since then.

The monthly polls by Levada Center show that 83% of respondents approve of Vladimir Putin’s actions as President and 75% support the military action in Ukraine. These numbers have been stable since March.

The taking of Mariupol was widely covered in the mainstream Russian media as a major step forward. The domestic political rhetoric has fully shifted to describing the military operation as being intended to free Donbas.

The Levada Center polls indicate a fall in support for both the military operation and for the President and government overall. However, 74% say that they have some level of support and 19% say that they do not support it in any way.

Polls conducted in mid-March indicate that President Putin’s approval rating jumped, as has that of politicians who have not been involved in the operation. The President’s approval rating is 83%, near its all-time highs.

The balance of power in the elite has shifted towards the security elite since the protests of 2011-12. President Putin chose to rely more and more on the siloviki (people of power) and listened less and less to the economic bloc which pointed out the economic costs of increasingly illiberal policies.

The big theme in 2021 was control of public politics ahead of the next Presidential elections in 2024. There was a clampdown on opposition press and political activities to eliminate the risk of a color revolution.