Political observers have long been expecting Putin's numbers to drop, but two years into his presidency, they have hit a new high at a staggering 83 percent, prompting some to wonder what makes Putin so popular, and what, if anything, such figures really mean.
The jump came a month after Moscow's hostage crisis, providing the first confirmation that Russia's tough-talking president emerged from the event looking good in the eyes of his electorate.
The public generally supported Putin's decision to storm the theater where Chechen rebels had taken some 800 people captive, despite the deaths of 129 hostages.
Sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky is director of the Institute of Globalization Studies. He said Russians who witnessed the Kremlin's handling of the hostage crisis were either impressed or frightened by what they saw.
"Either people support the gas attack or they are terrified. But in both cases they shut up, so there is no problem with domestic dissatisfaction," Kagarlitsky said.
Putin's high approval ratings have always been a major factor in his political might. But even as his overall ratings grow higher, other poll results tell a different story. Only 52 percent of people in the VTsIOM survey said they trusted Putin, while 15 percent said they trusted no one in the government.
Questions on specific issues such as economic policy showed even less-sparkling results, with only 33 percent of respondents approving Putin's economic program and 62 percent viewing it as a failure to various degrees.
An overwhelming 73 percent, moreover, said Putin had failed to "defeat the rebels in Chechnya," the promise that got him elected and on which he has maintained an unwaveringly hard line.
VTsIOM Director Yury Levada says Putin's situation is similar to that of U.S. President George W. Bush, who likewise maintains high public-approval ratings despite having many of his supporters criticize specific Republican Party policies, including those on the economy.
Both Bush and Putin saw their ratings rise in the aftermath of traumatic events: the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the events leading to the second war in Chechnya, respectively. Both men are waging self-described wars on terrorism, and both have been quick to stress national solidarity over diverse political debate.
Levada added that unlike the United States, Russia does not have a society that is used to pluralism and an exchange of different points of view, another condition contributing to Putin's high ratings.
"There is a great deal of trust in the president, but [there is trust in] no one else on Earth. That allows Putin to maintain exceptionally high ratings despite the fact that he lacks major successes," Levada said.
Duma Deputy Viktor Pokhmelkin, co-leader of the Liberal Russia party, questions the accuracy of public opinion polls and whether they can be said to reflect the public's real sentiment. He noted that the seeming contradiction of people criticizing Putin's policies even as they support the man himself reflects a general feeling of desperation.
"That many people in our country are disappointed with the dragged-out transition period - with a period of social disintegration and the instability of their own socioeconomic and legal situations - leads them to see the head of state as their last hope," Pokhmelkin said.
Pokhmelkin said Russians were less likely than Americans to see their heads of state as mere mortals, representatives of the people with human qualities themselves. That helps account for the wild swings between low single-digit approval ratings for former President Boris Yeltsin and Putin's highs - emotional extremes that are seen less often in the West.
So far, Pokhmelkin concluded, Putin has answered the call by providing a measure of stability, a "sacred cow," as he put it, in Russian politics.
But Pokhmelkin added that as a result, Putin will not be guaranteed an easy time in the next presidential elections and could suffer a quick fall.
Andrei Ryabov, a political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, agreed that both Putin and Bush have positioned themselves as successful fighters in their respective wars on terrorism. But he added that both need to be seen to be achieving continuous successes to maintain high ratings, and that makes them vulnerable to shifts in events.
"I think the criteria for Putin's victory is, above all, the reduction of the threat of terrorist acts and the reduction of the threat to the country's national security. At the same time, if such tragic acts [as the hostage crisis] take place again in the future, they will undoubtedly weaken his authority in public opinion to a significant degree," Ryabov said.
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