Russian public’s discontent with Putin rises amid Ukraine’s military actions in Kursk region – ISW

There is an increasing dissatisfaction among the people of Russia with President Vladimir Putin and the government, especially in light of Ukraine's operation in the Kursk region. In response, the Kremlin is attempting to address this issue through a multifaceted information campaign.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reports this.

As previously mentioned, on August 30, the Russian government-funded organization Public Opinion released the findings of a survey conducted on August 25. The survey revealed that 28% of participants expressed frustration or unhappiness with the Russian government's actions in the past month. Based on previous surveys conducted by the organization, these numbers increased from 25% on August 11 to 18% on July 28.

Analysts say the level of discontent hasn't been this high since the November 2022 survey, which was conducted after the first month of the unpopular partial mobilization in Russia.

Meanwhile, the Russian State Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VCIOM) reported a decrease of 3.5 percent in Putin's approval rating – now at 73.6 percent – from August 12 to 18. According to the ISW, this marks the most significant decline among Kremlin researchers since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The latest VCIOM poll, released on August 30, showed an additional drop in Putin's approval rating by 1.2 percent to 72.4 percent between August 19 and 25.

"These polls from Russian state-owned polling agencies do not suggest particularly pronounced discontent, nor are they reliable reflections of the actual sentiments in Russian society. The polls do suggest, however, that the Kremlin assesses that it must recognize that societal discontent has risen since the start of Ukraine's incursion into the Kursk region," the ISW report said.

Analysts believe that the Kremlin is probably counting on the partial acknowledgment of public disapproval to shield it from accusations of disregarding Russian citizens' concerns regarding Ukraine's Special Operation Forces operation in the Kursk region.

"The Kremlin appears to have launched an intricate messaging campaign aimed at justifying to its domestic audience why Russia is prioritizing the maintenance of offensive operations in eastern Ukraine over immediately expelling Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, and limited acknowledgments of discontent may be a part of this campaign," the ISW reports.

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As reported, the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, announced during a meeting of the Supreme Command's staff on August 30 that Ukrainian troops had advanced two kilometers in the Kursk region and now controlled five square kilometers of territory.