Levada Center: Sobyanin tops list of most trusted politicians in Moscow

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has risen to the top of the list of the politicians Muscovites trust the most, says a new poll conducted by the independent Levada Center.

When asked to name the “Moscow politicians and public figures who you most trust,” 19 percent of respondents said Sobyanin. Russian President Vladimir Putin came in second place with 18 percent. Nine percent of those surveyed named Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, five percent named opposition figure Alexey Navalny, and another five percent named Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.

That said, when asked who they would vote for in a presidential election if the vote were to take place this Sunday, 29 percent of respondents said Putin and only one percent said Sobyanin. Five percent said Zhirinovsky, 3 percent said Navalny, and another 3 percent said Communist Party (KPRF) leader Gennady Zyuganov. 

The Levada Center’s sociologists also recorded a fall in the approval ratings for Sobyanin’s activities: 32 percent of respondents said they had a “good impression” of his work, but only 10 percent said “very good.” These are the lowest ratings recorded since 2017. The degree of trust in Putin, as well as in the Moscow City Duma and in municipal deputies, also turned out to be the lowest recorded in several years.