President Putin’s approval rating stands at 86% according to the Levada Centre. The centre, which is Russia-based, is considered to be the only independent polling agency in Russia.
Russia has been holding presidential polls from May 15 and Putin is expected to comfortably secure another fifth term. The polls will end on March 17.
Putin first became president in 2000 and the elections which he is likely to win will grant him six more years in power
Official ratings released by Russian officials report that turnout for the first day was at 35% across the country. However, it also reported that President Putin was visibly angry at what was seen as Ukrainian efforts to mar the elections by ongoing attacks in the border regions of Russia and a bid to invade the country.
Russia-based groups based in Ukraine are launching border attacks on Russia. They have been continuously fighting in a bid to remove Putin from power.
In the Reuters report, Putin stated that “these enemy strikes will not remain unpunished,” in a meeting of Russia’s Security Council.
Comparing Putin’s ratings to other times during the Ukraine war the Levada Centre found that the Russian approval rating of Putin was at 71% on February 2022 on the eve of the Ukraine war. It rose to 83% in February 2023 and is 86% in February this current year.
Some experts believe the ratings have been manipulated.
Controversy has also been raised over the elections being held in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine which Moscow has termed its “new territories.” The Ukrainian foreign ministry released a statement on Friday calling these elections “illegal.”
Stray acts of dissent were reported with some voters setting fire to ballot boxes. According to Russia’s chair of the electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, people who do so will be jailed for up to five years. Calling the people “scumbags” she said that such people could be jailed for up to five years. According to the Washington Post she also cited concerns that attempts that attempted cyberattacks had been made on the first day in a bid to interfere with the election.
