Almost half of the populace, or 42 percent, believe that President Dmitry Medvedev has become an independent politician, up from 19 percent in May 2009, according to a new nationwide poll by Levada Center.
The percentage of Russians who think that Medvedev remains controlled by his predecessor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, has dropped to 44 percent, down from 68 percent a year ago.
The minority who thinks that Medvedev has the real political power remains virtually unchanged at 18 percent, compared with 16 percent in December 2007, when Putin selected Medvedev as his preferred successor. But 52 percent believe that Medvedev and Putin share the power equally, up from 39 percent in 2007.
In any case, 58 percent think that Medvedev follows Putin's policies closely, and 17 percent believe that he follows them to the letter. In December 2007, the numbers were 40 and 41 percent, respectively. Only 15 percent believe that Medvedev is gradually changing the Kremlin's policies, compared with 8 percent in 2007.
Levada polled 1,600 respondents in 46 regions. The margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.