Russia mood turns bleak under sanctions
- Russian public discontent widened in late April as Vladimir Putin’s approval hit a post-invasion low and pro-Kremlin voices warned of revolt. - State pollster VTsIOM put Putin at 65.6% after seven weekly declines, while blogger Victoria Bonya’s complaint video drew 31 million views. - Russia’s economy shrank 1.8% in January-February despite oil windfalls and a rate cut, tightening pressure on the Kremlin. (reuters.com)
Vladimir Putin entered the weekend with his lowest approval rating since the February 2022 invasion, as public complaints over prices, outages and the war economy grew louder. (reuters.com) State pollster VTsIOM said Putin’s approval fell for a seventh straight week to 65.6% on April 24. Russia’s independent Levada Center also reported a softer slide, with approval at 80% in March, down from 85% in October 2025. (reuters.com) (levada.ru) The complaints are no longer limited to opposition figures. The Associated Press reported that blogger and television host Victoria Bonya posted a 19-minute appeal to Putin that drew 31 million Instagram views, blaming officials for flood failures in Dagestan, livestock culls in Siberia, internet restrictions and pressure on small business. (apnews.com) Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said officials had seen Bonya’s video and that “a lot of work is being done” on the issues she raised. Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, a longtime Putin ally, told parliament on April 22 that the government risked a repeat of 1917 if it did not respond. (apnews.com) (usnews.com) The economic backdrop has turned harder to manage. Putin told top officials on April 15 that the economy contracted 1.8% in the first two months of 2026 and demanded new measures after manufacturing, construction and industrial indicators weakened. (reuters.com) Russia’s central bank cut its key rate by 50 basis points to 14.5% on April 24, but Governor Elvira Nabiullina said inflation pressure and labor shortages were still constraining the economy. The Bank of Russia said domestic demand was only roughly matching the economy’s ability to supply goods and services. (cbr.ru) (reuters.com) The strain is showing up in the budget, too. Russia ran a federal deficit of 4.58 trillion roubles, or 1.9% of gross domestic product, in January through March, even before any lasting benefit from April’s jump in oil-tax revenue. (reuters.com) That oil windfall has not erased the underlying problem. Reuters calculated that Russia’s mineral extraction tax on oil could roughly double to about 700 billion roubles in April, but economists still warned that 2026 would be a difficult year because war spending, sanctions and infrastructure attacks were distorting growth. (reuters.com) Levada’s January survey showed fewer than half of respondents were closely following the war, the lowest level in its series, while most still expected a long conflict and favored negotiations. That mix — fatigue, economic pressure and no clear end point — helps explain why the mood has darkened even without a direct challenge to Putin’s rule. (levada.ru)
