Sixty-five percent of Russians would like to see President Vladimir Putin elected for another term when balloting is held two years from now, a poll released Monday by the independent Levada Center pollster indicated.
This compares to 57 percent of respondents who said last year they would like Putin to win the 2018 election, Levada Center said in a report.
The number of Russians who would like to see another person succeed Putin as president in 2018 stood at 22 percent this year, compared to 25 percent in February 2015, the report said.
Despite the continuing domestic approval for Putin, the number of Russians claiming to be enamored of their president has dipped slightly from last year's peak.
The number of respondents who described their feeling for Putin as those of ?€?admiration?€? or ?€?sympathy?€? totaled 38 percent in the latest poll, compared to 47 percent a year ago, and 37 percent who said so in March 2014.
Another 30 percent said they had ?€?nothing bad?€? to say about Putin ?€” a figure that has remained virtually unchanged over the past few years.
The number of respondents who said they ?€?fully?€? or ?€?mostly?€? trusted Putin stood at 73 percent this year, compared to 83 percent in March 2015, and 71 percent in March 2014, according to Levada Center polls.
The poll was conducted on March 11-14 among 1,600 people in 137 Russian cities and towns, via personal interviews in respondents?€™ homes. The poll gave a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points or less.