Vladimir Putin has ruled Russia for more than a quarter century, long presenting himself as the leader who restored the country after the collapse of the Soviet Union and rebuilt its military into one of the world’s most feared forces.
But more than four years after ordering the invasion of Ukraine, the 73-year-old president is facing growing questions from critics and opposition figures who say his grip on power may be weakening.
A state-run polling agency, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, reported this week that public trust in Putin fell by 3.4 percentage points to 73.3%. Official figures have typically put confidence in him above 80%.
The decline comes as Russia faces mounting pressure from Ukrainian strikes on energy facilities. Fuel supplies have been disrupted in several regions, with reports of lines stretching for miles at gas stations. Some areas have limited sales to 20 liters per person a day, creating an embarrassing shortage for one of the world’s leading energy producers.
Ukraine has also intensified efforts to isolate Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. Recent strikes on supply trucks and energy facilities have disrupted daily life on the peninsula, halted civilian fuel sales in some areas and forced vacationers to leave as the summer season begins.
Russian authorities have responded by restricting internet access, citing public safety. Opposition activists say the real goal is to prevent anti-government organizing. The disruptions have also hurt small and midsize businesses that rely on online orders and customer management.
The problems have fed a new image of Putin among some Russians: not as a decisive leader, but as an aging ruler cut off from reality by advisers who give him flawed information about conditions inside Russia and on the Ukrainian front.
WWII Victory Day Parade in Moscow
(Photo: Alexander Wilf/Photo host agency RIA Novosti via AP)
One sign of discontent came from Alexander Lunin, a soldier who returned from Ukraine and posted an angry appeal demanding a meeting with Putin. He warned that if he were not allowed to address the public with Putin beside him, “the Russian army will turn its weapons against the Kremlin.” Russian officials said they were unfamiliar with the appeal, but Lunin was arrested and sentenced this week to 15 days in jail for what authorities called displaying extremist symbols.
Russian opposition figures and Ukrainian officials also point to growing anger among business and military elites over Putin’s handling of the war.
Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon said oligarchs are tired of losses and sanctions and want the war to end. He said his sources indicate Russian security services are weighing scenarios for replacing Putin to open a new chapter with Ukraine and the West.
For Putin’s opponents, the mood recalls “Swan Lake,” the ballet famously broadcast on Soviet television during moments of national crisis and leadership change. Months ago, several young people were arrested in St. Petersburg after chanting, “We want to see ‘Swan Lake’ on television.”
Now, amid fuel lines and battlefield setbacks, more Russians are wondering whether that moment is drawing closer.