Poll shows Putin's approval rating dipped, to 80%

Eighty percent of Russians say they approve of President Vladimir Putin's performance, a poll carried out this week showed.

Despite the high approval rating, support for the president is down 2 percentage points from the previous month, the opinion poll released on Wednesday showed.

The monthly survey, conducted by Russian pollster Levada Center, also found that Putin remains the most trusted Russian politician, with 53 percent of the respondents naming him as the public figure they trust the most.

According to the poll, the second most trusted politician is Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, followed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

When asked if Russia was moving in the right direction, 49 percent said yes while 33 percent said they believe the country was heading down the wrong path.

The Levada survey interviewed 1,600 people in 137 towns and cities across 48 Russian regions between May 22-25.

Source: XINHUA