Four years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia is facing a spring of discontent.

The trust rating for Vladimir Putin has fallen by five percent (from 76% to 71%) since March 22, according to data from a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). This was the biggest drop in Putin's approval rating since 2019. The weekly FOM polls show that Putin's approval rating has been falling steadily since February 8, 2026.

Nearly four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is facing a surge of public discontent, and law enforcement agencies have answered with a new wave of high-profile political raids and arrests,

“All the ‘top’ people in the university are now calling on students to go to war.” “Throughout the uni, there are posters about the UAV forces literally everywhere.” “The pressure is colossal.” These are all quotes from Russian students in ...