MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. One in two Russians consider Russian President Vladimir Putin to be the politician of the year, according to the findings of a new poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), which the pollster presented at a press conference.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were also ranked among the top three by the survey respondents.

One out of every two Russians surveyed (55%) believe that President Putin is the outstanding political figure of 2023. Rounding out the top three among Russian political leaders are Mishustin (with 21%) and Lavrov (16%).

Russians consider Zakhar Prilepin to be the writer of the year (5%). For athletes, the ranking is dominated by figure skaters with Olympic champion Roman Kostomarov in the top spot (8%), followed by Kamila Valieva, champion of the Olympic figure skating team tournament in Beijing (5%).

The Russia-wide telephone survey was conducted on December 8 and December 16, 2023. It involved 1,600 Russians over the age of 18. The data has been balanced by socio-demographic parameters. The margin of error does not exceed 2.5% with a probability ratio of 95%.