Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval rating slipped again as Russia's war in Ukraine moved deeper into its fifth year, with polling showing signs of growing war fatigue amid drone attacks, fuel shortages, and an uncertain path to peace.
The state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center, known as VTsIOM, said Friday that 66.9% of respondents approved of Putin's performance in an Aug. 24-30 survey, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous week. Trust in Putin measured 72.2%, up 0.2 percentage points.
The nationwide poll surveyed 1,600 adults through telephone and in-person interviews and had a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points, according to VTsIOM. Its results followed a volatile summer in which Putin's approval hit 65.1% in early July. The Public Opinion Foundation, another polling organization linked to the Kremlin, separately reported a 5-percentage-point weekly decline to 66% in July.
"We've seen support for Putin waning, albeit marginally, but it shows that his critical decisions in the war are forcing pollsters to show the active decline," said Kateryna Stepanenko, Russia team lead at the Institute for the Study of War.
"It may also signal that individuals inside the Kremlin are trying to use pollsters to send a message to Putin about the war," she added. "Someone is going out of there to show that interest in the war is waning."
The independent Levada Center found further signs of war fatigue in an Aug. 18-28 survey of 1,600 Russian adults. Fifty-nine percent favored moving toward peace negotiations, compared with 31% who backed continuing military operations. A record 55% expected the fighting to last more than another year, while 61% said the war had affected them or their families.
Ukraine's intensified long-range drone campaign has increasingly brought the conflict into daily life in Russia. Russian Defense Ministry figures compiled by The Associated Press showed that more than 43,300 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea from June through August, nearly six times the approximately 7,700 reported during the same period in 2025.
Strikes on oil refineries helped fuel gasoline shortages and long lines at filling stations. Drone alerts also closed airports, disrupted flights, and damaged warehouses. Ukrainian officials describe the attacks as pressure intended to weaken Moscow's ability to finance and continue the invasion it launched in February 2022.
"There is a strong desire to end the war, but it's not likely that this trend will lead to major unrest or a palace coup," said John Hardie of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The political strain comes before Russia's Sept. 18-20 parliamentary election, the first since the full-scale invasion. The election includes few opposition candidates, and Russia's Supreme Court in August removed the anti-war Yabloko party's federal candidate list from the ballot.
Estonian intelligence chief Kaupo Rosin said pressure on Putin to reassess the war appears to be increasing within Russia.
"There are certainly voices which express that he should keep going, but I think the voices which, let's say, urge [him] to maybe reconsider the situation are becoming stronger," Rosin said.
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