Six in 10 Russians say economic conditions in their city or region are deteriorating, according to results of a Gallup poll conducted between March and May 2026 — the highest share recorded in the survey’s 20-year history. Previous peaks came in 2020 (45%) and 2021 (50%), during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2026 survey also found that 27% of respondents said conditions in their city or region had improved.
Fifty-six percent of Russians said their standard of living was getting worse, also a 20-year high; 29% said it had improved.
Russians’ views of the labor market darkened sharply as well. Fifty-eight percent said it was a bad time to find a job, while 35% said it was a good time. A year earlier, those figures stood at 46% and 49%, respectively.
Gallup also recorded year-over-year drops — each a record — in Russians’ trust in the armed forces, the government, and elections. Trust in the military fell from 79% to 66%; trust in the government dropped from 67% to 53%; and trust in the integrity of elections fell from 56% to 40%. Positive assessments of press freedom in the country plummeted from 59% to 34% over the same period.
Russian polling organizations Public Opinion Foundation (FOM) and Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) began recording a decline in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings in the spring of 2026. In late June, FOM published a survey showing that Russians’ trust in Putin had fallen to 69 percent — the lowest level recorded since the start of the full-scale war against Ukraine.
At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.
If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].
To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.