The number of supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin is growing, despite the economic and foreign policy difficulties in the country. This is stated in the study of the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society (FORGO) under the name "Putin's majority" on the eve of a large electoral cycle ". "Putin's majority" is a coalition of citizens in all social strata of society, supporting the president's program and sharing his ideology. This is the most active and visible part of the electorate, around which a broad mass of voters gather, explained in the study. The report, which is based on the data of Romir, VTsIOM and FOM, shows that "the level of electoral support of the incumbent is 61-66 percent". "The Putin majority" does not have an alternative candidate in the elections if the current head of state does not participate in them, the authors of the study. At the same time, Putin did not announce whether he would participate in the election campaign.

In December 2016, readers of Time magazine included Putin among the most influential people of the year, along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Barack Obama, his successor, Donald Trump, and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. At the same time Time editors called Trump's "man of the year". At the end of last year, Putin also topped the rating of the most influential people in the world according to the American magazine Forbes.

Original article: The FORGO estimated the level of Putin's electoral support.