Just 15 percent of the population believes that Medvedev holds the real power, while 27 percent say Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is pulling the strings, according to the survey conducted by Canadian polling firm GlobeScan for the BBC's Russian service.
The most common opinion, however, is that power is shared equally between the two, a view held by 41 percent of respondents.
The poll also found that most Russians expect that Putin will return to the Kremlin: 57 percent said they expect him to be the next president, while just 24 percent disagreed, GlobeScan said in a statement.
Speculation has been rife that Putin, who gave up the presidency in 2008 after serving two consecutive four-year terms, might come back after a constitutional amendment extending the presidential term from four years to six was whisked through the parliament last year by Medvedev, who is widely seen as Putin's handpicked and loyal successor.
The survey also indicated that 30 percent think that the country is headed in the right direction, while 24 percent think that it is not. "The results show that those who believe Putin will return are more likely to feel that things are headed in the right direction, suggesting that a comeback is seen by many as representing continuity," the pollsters said.
The survey found that less than a third (32 percent) of the population thinks that human rights and civil liberties have improved under Medvedev. About 40 percent disagreed, and the rest took a neutral position or said they were unable to answer.
Yet the pollsters noted that Russians in general did not categorize human rights as a very pressing issue -- only 2 percent mentioned it as top priority.
On foreign policy issues, the survey found that Russians are happy with their country's international influence: Two-thirds (66 percent) said Russia was perceived by other countries as a force for good in the world, while only 12 percent said the country posed a threat to its neighbors. A total of 28 percent said that last year's war with Georgia damaged Russia's image.
The findings contrast with an international GlobeScan poll released in February that showed attitudes about Russia took a dramatic dive last year.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the latest findings showed that the country's foreign policy was supported by most of the population despite the fact that the West was waging an "information war" on Russia.
"Western media that allowed themselves being utilized in that war are now discredited in the eyes of Russians," he was quoted as saying by the BBC.
GlobeScan said it interviewed 1,012 Russian citizens for the latest survey. The margin of error was 3.07 percentage points.
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