The number of Russians who consider the political situation tense has risen sharply

The share of Russians who assess the political situation in the country as tense or critical and explosive has risen to 70%. This is the highest figure in almost four years — since mobilization in Russia in the fall of 2022. Such data are provided by the Levada Center based on the results of a new study of public sentiment.

Negative assessments of the political situation gradually intensified during 2026. In the January survey, 58% of respondents considered the situation tense or critical: 51% called it tense, and another 7% — critical or explosive.

By March, the figure increased to 61%. At that time, 52% of survey participants characterized the situation as tense, and 9% — as critical and explosive. Thus, by summer, the total share of negative assessments had risen by about 9 percentage points more, reaching 70%.

The researchers noted that negative perception of the political situation in Russia began to steadily intensify in mid-2025. After a surge in the fall of 2022, indicators declined for some time, but then the trend changed.

The previous maximum was associated with the events of September 2022, when the Russian authorities announced the so-called partial mobilization against the backdrop of the full-scale war against Ukraine. That period was accompanied by one of the sharpest deteriorations in public assessments in recent years.

Earlier, the Levada Center also found out what exactly Russians mean by a tense political situation. In one of the previous studies, among the main reasons, respondents most often cited the continuation of the war against Ukraine, mobilization, and loss of life. Inflation and economic problems, deterioration of living standards, and Russia's relations with Western countries were also mentioned.

In January 2026, war-related factors were mentioned in total by three-quarters of respondents who explained their negative assessment of the political situation. Economic problems in various formulations were cited by about a quarter of participants in that survey.

However, the growing sense of political tension does not mean a similar decline in all ratings of the Russian authorities. According to July data from the Levada Center, more than half of those polled still believed that the country was moving in the right direction, and positive responses continued to prevail in assessments of the performance of main state institutions.

Thus, surveys record the simultaneous existence of two trends: a significant part of Russians maintains loyalty to the current government, but at the same time more and more citizens perceive the general political situation as tense or potentially crisis-prone.

The current 70% was the highest indicator of negative perception of the political situation since September 2022. Back in the spring, the Levada Center noted that assessments were gradually approaching the levels of 2021–2022, but the new survey shows a further noticeable deterioration.

Based on: Levada Center