The Russian president and prime minister's approval ratings have been steadily climbing since December 2011 when the first wave of opposition rallies swept across Russia, the state-run pollster VTsIOM said on Friday.
“The protests did not break the trust in the president or the premier. Amid protests, their ratings began rising,” VTsIOM director Valery Fyodorov said.
Between August and December 2011 the approval ratings of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and then-President Dmitry Medvedev had been “steadily falling,” Fyodorov said. “December was the tipping point when the situation changed.”
In late September, Medvedev nominated Putin for president at the congress of the ruling United Russia party, saying he was ready to serve as prime minister.
Putin was elected president on March 4; Russia’s opposition called the vote “flawed” and pushed for new polls. Medvedev became the prime minister.
In December, the approval rating of then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stood at 54 percent and Medvedev’s stood at 52. In May the approval ratings reached 69 and 65 percent respectively.
