MOSCOW, December 31. /TASS/. Russians have chosen President Vladimir Putin as politician of the year, the All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center said in a statement.

"Vladimir Putin remains the politician of the year for Russians, as 46% of those polled mentioned his name," the statement reads. Putin, who was chosen by a landslide, is followed by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (18%), Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (9%), Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (6%), and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Vladimir Zhirinovsky (5%).

According to the pollster, Sergei Bezrukov still tops the charts as the most popular Russian actor (8%), with Konstantin Khabensky coming in second (5%).

Among the most popular athletes are figure skater Alina Zagitova (11%), footballers Artyom Dzyuba (8%) and Igor Akinfeyev (7%) and mixed martial artist Khabib Nurmagomedov (5%).

The nationwide poll, involving 1,600 people above the age of 18, was conducted in December 2018. The margin of error does not exceed 2.5% at the 95% confidence level.