Another wave of public outcry tests Putin’s rule in wartime Russia

Some Russian influencers have recently issued public appeals. President Vladimir Putincriticized his government and policies, and some of his loyalists even threatened rebellion; This was the last wave of public opinion regarding the direction of the country. strained wartime economy and assembly internet restrictions.

While none of these differences indicate an imminent threat to Putin’s rule, analysts say they present a new and growing challenge for the Kremlin.

“More and more efforts are needed to maintain the status quo,” Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian politics who heads the Mayak Intelligence consultancy, wrote in an analysis.

Here’s a look at the public reaction in Russia and what caused it:

Influencers appeal to Putin but their approval drops

Popular Russian blogger Victoria Bonya’s 19-minute video has received 31 million views on Instagram since it was posted 10 days ago.

In the video, Bonya, who has 13.6 million followers on the platform, complained to Putin that he had likely been misinformed about a number of issues: local authorities’ poor response to recent floods in the southern province of Dagestan, the culling of livestock in Siberia that had sparked farmers’ protests, paralyzed internet restrictions And pressures on small businesses.

Bonya, a popular Russian television presenter who now lives abroad, emphasized her support for Putin but said ordinary Russians and her own officials were too afraid to tell her the truth.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” he said. “People are screaming at the top of their lungs now. Everything they own has been stolen and they continue to be robbed. Businesses are dying.”

Reactions to the video grew like an avalanche. Other Russian influencers expressed similar sentiments in their videos, some of which were later deleted.

In a rare acknowledgment of public criticism, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kremlin officials had watched the video and “a lot of work has been done” on the issues Bonya mentioned. “None of them are being ruled out,” Peskov said.

Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, a long-time supporter of Putin, harshly criticized the government in his speech to parliament on Tuesday, saying his party had raised the issues before. Threatened to repeat Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 If measures are not taken to solve the problems.

Predictions of mutiny are also regularly published on pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and loyalist military bloggers.

Meanwhile, Russian state-controlled pollster VTsIOM has reported a consistent decline in Putin’s approval ratings in recent weeks. Data released Friday showed a 65.6% approval rating, the lowest the pollster has reported since before the war in Ukraine; There has been a decline since 77.8% at the end of December 2025.

Russia’s leading independent pollster Levada Center also reported a slight decline in Putin’s approval rating, from 85 percent in October 2025 to 80 percent in March.

Internet restrictions trigger wave of discontent

Russians across the vast country regularly faced Your mobile phone’s internet is cut off since last spring. Authorities justified the blackouts as a way to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but critics argued the blackouts were another step in a years-long effort to bring the internet under tight government control.

The closures come on top of the most widespread and ever-growing internet censorship, with thousands of websites and platforms in Russia blocked or restricted over the years. popular messaging apps — WhatsApp and Telegram.

Authorities are promoting and also blocking Max, a new state-backed messaging app seen by many as a surveillance tool. VPNs To stop widespread censorship being circumvented.

public disappointment The measures taken resulted in petitions to the presidential administration, a class-action lawsuit against the government, several street strikes, and numerous acts of resistance. Attempts to organize larger protests suppressed by authorities.

The Kremlin seems unimpressed. At a government meeting on Thursday, Putin again justified the closures as necessary to “prevent terrorist attacks” and called on authorities to better inform the public about the restrictions.

Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center wrote in a Telegram post that his remarks showed that the security services “did everything right and will continue as long as they see fit.”

Struggling economy adds to frustration

The critical videos emerged at a time when the country’s wartime economy was increasingly strained.

After the initial boost from massive military spending wore off, economic growth stalled. high interest rates imposed by the central bank to control inflation and increasing taxes It also became a burden to businesses.

Minister of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov he recently said the economy’s reserves were “massively depleted,” and Putin said at a televised government meeting earlier this month that economic growth had fallen for two months in a row. He said Russia’s gross domestic product shrank by 1.8% between January and February.

Levada Center director Denis Volkov said economic problems are the main reason for increasing dissatisfaction with Putin and the government and decreasing approval.

“When the mood starts to deteriorate just because life gets harder, this starts to show up in opinion polls,” Volkov said.

No end in sight to the war in Ukraine

Sam Greene, professor of Russian politics at King’s College London, also points out that hopes that Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year, may end soon are fading.

These hopes consolidated after US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 and led the effort to negotiate a peace agreement has since stopped.

“The Kremlin was also really weighing in on this idea. And I think it was priced into the public eye,” Greene said. “But it still doesn’t happen.”

The resulting disappointment and disillusionment means Putin has “paid some price.”

There is no imminent death for Putin either

“None of this could herald the imminent end of Putin’s rule,” Galeotti said in his analysis.

“There is no meaningful organized opposition” and Putin’s “control over the security apparatus cannot be challenged,” Galeotti said. In a war, “even its critics don’t want to destabilize the country.”

Volkov echoed the same sentiment and said that discontent was gradually increasing. Putin’s approvals are falling “from a very high point.”

“We should not underestimate or exaggerate this for now, because we are just at the beginning,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abbas Gallyamov, Putin’s former speechwriter and political analyst, said frustration will continue to deepen as people feel empowered as popular figures voice criticism.

“The feeling of power in politics depends largely on how widespread the position you share and defend is.”