Public trust in the ruling tandem of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has dropped to record lows since January, according to three new polls.
The state-linked Public Opinion Foundation said trust in Medvedev has dived by 10 percent to 52 percent on Aug. 1, the lowest since the start of the recession in 2008.
Putin's rating has slipped from 69 percent in January to 61 percent over the same period, his worst showing since 2006, the pollster said.
The nationwide survey, which the pollster said did not take into account the wildfires sweeping central Russia, did not specify a margin of error.
The state-run pollster VTsIOM, meanwhile, said Putin's rating has fallen to 47 percent from 53 percent at the start of the year, and Medvedev's rating has dropped to 39 percent from the previous 44 percent.
The independent Levada Center said Putin's rating has hit 44 percent, down from 48 percent in January, while Medvedev has 38 percent, down just 1 percent from January.
An unidentified Kremlin source told Vedomosti that the ruling United Russia party has worried about the drop in ratings since the winter because there was no obvious reason for the trend.
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