Amid falling approval ratings, Putin is appearing in public more — but still rarely leaves Moscow
Vladimir Putin has begun making more frequent public appearances as his approval ratings have declined in recent months, though he continues to avoid Russia’s regions, according to the independent outlet Faridaily.
In April and May alone, Putin took part in 60 public events, compared to just 55 across the entire January–March period, Faridaily reported, citing official Kremlin press releases.
Even so, the total number of public engagements between January and May was down 22% compared to the same period in 2025. In 2024 — as well as in 2019, before the full-scale war in Ukraine — he held around 1.5 times as many such meetings as he does today, Faridaily calculated.
In May, Putin made two foreign trips: one to China and one to Kazakhstan. Both visits were laden with pomp and received a steady stream of favourable coverage in Russian state media, the journalists noted. During the same month last year, he had not left Russia at all.
May also saw two curated human-interest moments: a meeting with Putin’s 94-year-old German teacher from his school days, Vera Gurevich, and a reunion with a now-grown Chinese boy named Peng Pai, who had first met the Russian leader back in 2000.
Yet for all of his increased visibility, Putin continues to avoid travelling within Russia itself. Between January and May, he officially left Moscow just twice, both times to visit St. Petersburg.
In the same period last year, Putin made eight regional visits; in 2024, he made 14; and in 2019, he made 17, according to Faridaily’s figures. Excluding trips to his home city, his last visit to any Russian region was to Samara in November 2025.
Putin hasn’t started working less, but his priorities have likely just shifted, two sources told the outlet.
One said that Putin has lately been holding private meetings with the widows of soldiers killed in Ukraine, as well as with combat veterans, and has been personally engaging with efforts to help them reintegrate into civilian life. A second source said he has been attending closed-door events dedicated to AI and other advanced technologies.
Faridaily first noted in March that Putin had been pulling back from public view and travelling less to Russia’s regions. A subsequent intelligence report from an unnamed European country that was published by CNN, the Financial Times, and the independent Russian outlet IStories attributed the behaviour to fears of a coup or assassination attempt.
Putin’s approval rating, as measured by the state pollster VTsIOM, fell for seven consecutive weeks through to the end of April, sliding from 73.3% to 65.6%. Shortly afterwards, VTsIOM changed its methodology, incorporating door-to-door interviews as well as telephone polling, and the numbers began climbing again.