When Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, they were greeted with widespread international criticism, especially from the United States. President Joseph Biden stated that the Russian government had chosen a planned conflict that would entail a “terrible loss of life and human misery.”
But, according to recent polling, Vladimir Putin is more popular in the United States now than in 2020, long before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to YouGov, the Russian leader’s approval rating in the United States is 21% in the first quarter of 2023. Putin’s approval rating was about 15% in the first quarter of 2021 and rose to 17% soon after Russia invaded Ukraine.
A Gallup survey released on March 13, 2023, revealed “already-negative sentiments of Russia have deteriorated more in the previous year,” dropping from 15% to 9%.
According to the Gallup Global Affairs survey, almost three out of five individuals have an “extremely negative” opinion of Russia. In the 2022 survey, 42% of respondents agreed, up from 36% in the 2021 survey. In comparison, in 2023, 68% of respondents had a positive impression of Ukraine.
Global Attitudes survey results were “easily the lowest assessments of Russia in almost three and a half decades,” Gallup said.
According to the survey, 51% of Americans see the military might of Russia as a serious danger.
Of 1,000 Americans surveyed by YouGov between December 22, 2022, and January 2, 2023, 55% had an “extremely negative” opinion of Putin, while just 6% had a “very positive” opinion of the Russian leader.
Most respondents to this survey described Putin as either “pretty strong” or “extremely strong” in his leadership abilities.
According to Statista, 69% of US respondents had an “unfavorable” assessment of Putin in 2014, the same year Moscow unlawfully grabbed Crimea.
According to statistics released on March 30th, 2023, more than 80% of Russians approved of Putin’s actions inside Russia. The Kremlin’s announcement of a partial mobilization of Russian soldiers bound for Ukraine in September 2022 prompted this increase, as observed by Statista.
