Russians' trust rating and approval of Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin's actions fell to record lows after the start of the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region.
Points of attention
- Putin's approval and trust ratings in Russia hit record lows after the start of the offensive operation in Kurshchyna by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
- The offensive highlights Russian vulnerabilities and signals Ukraine's determination to confront Russian aggression, affecting international dynamics.
- Ukraine's strategic shift influences the conflict's dynamics and potentially limits the Kremlin's capabilities.
- The drop in Putin's trust rating reflects changing sentiments in Russia and underscores the need for Ukraine to unite allies against Russian aggression.
- The offensive operation serves as a test of Putin's pain threshold and deterrence measures, impacting negotiations and potential outcomes in the conflict.
Russians are losing patience with Putin amid the successful offensive of the Armed Forces in Kurshchyna
According to the Russian publication "Meduza", the results of the poll of the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion indicate that the approval rating of Putin's activities for the week from August 12 to 18 fell by 3.5% compared to the previous week and reached 73.6%.
The level of trust in the dictator during the same period decreased by 2.6% to 78.2%.
It is emphasized that the rating of Russians' trust in the Kremlin dictator has not fallen so low since the full-scale invasion of the occupation army of the Russian Federation in Ukraine at the end of February 2022.
According to RosZMI, judging by the data of the Central Committee of the Russian Federation, this is a record drop in both indicators since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
The approval rating of Putin's work during the war fell below the level of 73.6% in the summer-autumn of 2023, after the rebellion of the founder of PMK "Wagner" Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The rating reached a minimum value (72.6%) in the week from August 7 to 13, 2023.
At the same time, Putin's trust rating dropped below 78% twice during the war - against the background of mobilization in the fall-winter of 2022-2023 and in the summer-fall of 2023, after Prigozhin's rebellion.
In addition, sociologists recorded the minimum value of the rating (76.7%) for the week from July 31 to August 6, 2023.
How the offensive operation of the Armed Forces humiliated Putin's Kremlin leadership
According to CNN journalists, the offensive operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kurshchyna demonstrated a large number of Russian vulnerabilities.
In addition, Ukraine sent a signal to its Western partners that it is capable of winning the criminal war unleashed by the Kremlin.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine shattered the growing opinion of Ukraine's supporters that it has little chance of regaining most of its territory. According to Kyiv, the Kursk operation shows that the Ukrainian army deserves constant, faster and better support from the allies, as it can change the course of the war, the authors of the article emphasized.
According to retired Major General of the Australian Army Mick Ryan, the purpose of the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kurshchyna is Ukraine's desire to demonstrate to the world that the threat of Russia's victory in the unleashed criminal war is not inevitable.
At the same time, he called on Ukraine's Western allies not only to maintain support, but also to further loosen restrictions on the use of transferred weapons.
Ukraine has once again demonstrated that the various "red lines" designed by Putin are nothing more than a chimera designed to strengthen the West's political timidity regarding making decisions about war, Ryan emphasized.
Mathieu Bouleg, a senior researcher at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes that the Kursk operation is a valuable way to "test Putin's pain threshold and other forms of deterrence."
However, the newspaper's journalists note that Ukraine would like to target airfields deep in Russia with the same longer-range ATACMS missiles, but Washington does not seem inclined to agree.
However, the seizure of Russian territory improves Ukraine's position in any negotiations, and also serves as insurance in case former President Donald Trump wins the US elections and tries to impose a peaceful settlement on Ukraine, the authors of the article note.
