Putin loses support in Russia, the fuel crisis worsens

Decline in support for Putin in Russia. There fuel crisiswhich is spreading to all regions of the country after weeks of raid ukraini on the Federation’s refineries, has reached the point of affecting the level of liking of the head of the Kremlin.

Approval for Putin is declining

According to the state polling institute Vtsiomthe Russian leader’s approval rating dropped by 3.5 points in the week from 22nd to 28th June. In the 20 years of data available to Vtsiom, only twice has a sitting president’s approval rating fallen more rapidly: in June 2018, Putin lost 8.5 points in a week after announcing an increase in the retirement age, while in September 2009, Dmitri Medvedev lost 4 points in a week.

Second Vtsiomas of June 28th, the approval of Putin it had fallen to 66.9%. The figure, the Moscow Times points out, is slightly higher than the lows recorded in April (65.6%), but 10.9 points lower when compared to the end of 2025. Compared to the peak reached during the war – 79.2% in May 2025 – Putinaccording to Vtsiom, has lost 12.3 percentage points of approval.

In Russia the fuel shortage becomes a social crisis

The fuel crisis is turning into a social crisis and it could have political implications, the analyst noted Sergey Kolesnikov: War weariness is turning into discontent, even if people don’t have the tools for a protest capable of undermining Putin’s hold on power.

“The lack of gas has rapidly ceased to be an economic problem, becoming a test of the State’s ability to manage a crisis that does not impact abstract macroeconomics, but daily normality”, commented the political scientist Ilya Grashchenkov.

Putin’s admission

Last Sunday, Putin publicly acknowledged for the first time the existence of the crisis which has caused soaring prices, rationing at petrol stations and long queues of cars looking for petrol.

The format of his speech was significant: instead of an address to the nation – usually reserved for major events such as the announcement of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – or a discussion of the issue at a cabinet meeting, he gave an interview to Pavel Zarubinthe Kremlin’s “court journalist”.

The internal political implications

Answering one of the questions, Putin admitted that i Ukraine raid refineries are causing gasoline shortages, but he assured that the situation is not “critical”. Then, he quickly shifted the topic of conversation to the status of peace negotiations and a lengthy account of Russia’s military successes.

Putin usually distances himself from bad news, but according to the Russian journalist Farida Rustamova “The crisis is so serious that the Kremlin probably decided that the president would risk appearing too detached from reality if he continued to ignore it.”

The decision would have been influenced not only by the polls, but also by the imminent election: in September we will vote for the renewal of the State Duma.