In the most recent poll conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), President Vladimir Putin's trust rating remained steady at 78.5%.

The poll, which surveyed 1,600 adult residents of Russia from November 27 to December 3, also indicated a slight increase in Putin's approval rating, rising by 0.6 percentage points to 75.8%.

The VTsIOM results mirror the most recent poll from the independent Levada Centre, which found Putin’s approval rating has increased in the last month to 85%, while his disapproval rating slid two percentage points to 13%.

The Duma set March 17 as the date for next year’s presidential election on Deccember 7, unofficially kicking off campaigning for the job. Putin has yet to officially comment on his candidature for the election, but he is widely expected to compete and win by a landslide. As bne IntelliNews reported, Putin has become a lot more visible in the state-owned media, visiting sick children in hospital and travelling to the regions, in what is clearly a warm up for the official election campaign.

Putin is profiting from progress in the war and a booming economy at street level where the heavy spending on defence has had a military Keynesianism effect and the tight labour market has seen wages rise strongly. Real wages in Russian are up 7%, and real disposable income increased by 4.4%, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the VTB Investment Forum "Russia Calling!" on December 7. At the same time, most of the sanction effects on consumer products have worn off as traders replace the goods that disappeared from the shelves when most multinationals stopped trading with Russia.

The Russian government received a job approval rating of 51.4%, marking a 1.7 percentage point increase. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's job performance was approved by 53.3% of Russians, a 1 percentage point increase, with 61.9% expressing trust in Mishustin, up by 0.8 percentage points.

The survey also gauged public sentiment towards the heads of party factions in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament.

Gennady Zyuganov, the long-time leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF), saw a 0.6 percentage point decrease in trust, with 31.5% of respondents expressing trust in him.

Sergey Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia — For Truth party, experienced a 1.5 percentage point decline in trust, with 27.9% trusting his leadership.

Leonid Slutsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), received a 1.3 percentage point increase in trust, with 18.3% expressing confidence in his leadership.

Alexey Nechayev, chairman of the New People party, saw a 0.6 percentage point increase in trust, with 8.4% trusting his leadership.

Regarding political parties, the ruling United Russia party's level of popular support stood at 39.8%, marking a 1.1 percentage point decline.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) garnered 10.4% support, a 1.2 percentage point increase.

The LDPR maintained its support at 9.2%, while A Just Russia — For Truth experienced a 0.1 percentage point decline to 4.3%.

The New People party saw an increase of 0.6 percentage points, with 5% popular support.