Support for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin grew by 6 percentage points to 48 percent in the past few weeks, the state-run pollster VTsIOM said on Friday.
“Putin retains his solid lead in the presidential elections’ rating, with his support on the rise (from 42 percent to 48 percent in the past few weeks). Support for other candidates has been stable: 10 percent for Gennady Zyuganov, 9 percent for Vladimir Zhirinovsky, five percent for Sergei Mironov. At the bottom of the list are Mikhail Prokhorov (3 percent) and Grigory Yavlinsky (2 percent),” VTsIOM said in a statement.
The approval ratings of Putin and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have grown to 58 and 57 percent in the first week of 2012, respectively. The figure for both leaders was 51 percent in early December.
The United Russia party has seen its ratings rise by 4-6 percentage points since December.
The ratings of the other parties remain stable: Communists - 14 percent, LDPR - 10 percent, A Just Russia - 8 percent.
The survey was held on January 7-8 among 1,600 respondents in 46 Russian regions.
Presidential elections in Russia are scheduled for March 4.
