A survey carried out by the state-run pollster VTsIOM published on Friday showed that the proportion of Russians who trust President Vladimir Putin has increased to 81.6% from 67.2% before February 24.

VTsIOM noted that 78.9% of participants in its latest survey said they approved of Putin's measures, compared to 64.3% in the last poll that was carried out before the beginning of the special military operation.

The proportion of those who disapproved of President Putin's actions decreased from 24.4% to 12.9%.

US News website published last week a poll that showed that the popularity of Putin had increased since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has asserted that the support for President Putin's policies is very high and it is what gives strength to the president.

"And indeed, the level of the president's support is truly high, and of course, this consolidation around the president at such a difficult moment requiring great responsibility is very important, and this gives all of us strength," he said back in March when asked about results obtained by the Public Opinion Foundation about the level of Russians' confidence in the president.

Poll: Putin popularity rose since start of war in Ukraine

An opinion poll shared on March 31 by US News showed that the popularity of Russian President Vladimir Putin has risen since the start of the military operation in Ukraine. The poll is conducted by the independent Levada Center.

The first poll conducted by the Levada Center, an independent Russian non-governmental polling organization, since Moscow began sending its forces to Ukraine, showed that 83% of Russians approve of Putin's decisions, up from 71% in early February. 

The Levada center also indicated that 15% of the respondents said they did not approve of President Putin's actions, down from 27%, while 2% refused to answer.

The poll showed an improvement in the popularity of the Russian government and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin as well. Opinion polls conducted by other parties also concluded that Putin's approval rating exceeded 80%.

Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stressed that the level of support for President Vladimir Putin's policies was "very high", which gives "strength to the president."

On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, in response to requests from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics for assistance in combating Ukrainian troops' aggression.

The special operation only targets Ukrainian military facilities, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, and the civilian population is not at risk. Moscow has stated that it has no intention of occupying Ukraine.