almost a third of Russians continue to support Prigozhin

The approval rating of the founder of PMC “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin fell in half after his rebellion, but it still remains at a relatively high level.

According to the Levada Center poll, which was conducted on June 22-28, before the uprising, 58 percent of respondents reported a positive attitude toward Prigozhin’s activities. After the completion of the so-called “justice march” to Moscow, 29 percent of respondents said they approve of the activities of PMC head Wagner.

Sociologists also described the dynamics of public sentiment regarding Prigozhin. Before the uprising, he appeared to Russians as a “fighter for the truth”, “a real leader”, “patriot” and “victorious general”, and then his image began to be dominated by negative evaluations: “he caused trouble”, “went against Russia”, “rushes to power” “, note the authors of the study.

Also, after the mutiny, the level of approval of the activities of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin accused of attacks on Wagner camps, the demand to destroy the ego of the PMC and the incompetent conduct of the war in Ukraine, decreased. However, the drop in the minister’s rating was not so significant. A week earlier, 60% of respondents approved of his activities, and after Prigozhin’s rebellion – 48%.

At the same time, the rebellion had practically no effect on the performance of President Vladimir Putin. 81% of Russians supported him on June 22–23, 79% on the day of the uprising, and 82% on June 25–28.

At the same time, regional politicians told “Meduza” that they were informed in the Kremlin about the drop in the level of trust in Putin by 9-14%. To combat this, the presidential administration has increased the frequency of Putin’s public appearances, a source close to the Kremlin told the publication. After the uprising, the president personally communicated with the residents of Derbent, Dagestan, and also visited the forum of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives.

• In his speeches after the Wagner PMC rebellion, which essentially ended in a compromise – Yevgeny Prigozhin stopped his march on Moscow in exchange for a guarantee of immunity – Putin constantly emphasizes that the people did not follow the rebels, but supported the authorities. At the same time, numerous videos from Rostov-on-Don, occupied by the PMC on June 24, showed scenes of “fraternization” of local residents with the Wagnerites and Prigozhin’s departure from the city to applause.

• During the mutiny, PMC fighters shot down several helicopters and a plane of the Russian army. Several pilots died. The exact number of dead has not yet been officially reported.