Russian president's job approval rating stands at over 80% - VTsIOM
MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The job approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin has grown to 82.3% from 75.7% a week ago, sociologists of the All Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies (VTsIOM) have said following a recent public opinion survey.
The sociologists have explained this result primarily by Crimea's accession to Russia and the situation in Ukraine (71% of respondents).
The poll, which was conducted by VTsIOM in 42 Russian regions on March 22-23 and involved 1,600 people, indicates a significant rise in the president's job approval rating, which stood at 60.6% in January 2014. Previously, Putin's job approval rating reached an all-time high of 82.9% in February 2008.
The survey shows that the assessment of the president's work given by residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg is generally lower than the average assessment given in other regions of the country.
However, even in Moscow and St. Petersburg Putin's job approval rating stands at 81.5% today.
In recent months, the electoral rating of the United Russia Party has reached 56.2%, its best result in the past five years. The party's electoral rating stood at an average of 45% over the past two years.
The poll's margin of error was 3.4%.