MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. The level of trust among the Russian population in President Vladimir Putin edged slightly higher to 79.7% in the latest poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), the polling firm said in releasing the findings of the poll, which surveyed 1,600 adult residents of Russia on December 11-17.

"When asked about trust in Putin, 79.7% of respondents answered positively (a 0.4 p.p. increase in the past week), while the Russian president’s approval rating rose by 0.1 p.p. to 77.1%," the pollster said.

The Russian government’s job approval rating stood at 53% (a 1.5 p.p. rise), while 54% of Russians approved of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s job performance (a 0.1 p.p. increase). A total of 62% of respondents said they trusted Mishustin (a 0.8 p.p. decline).

Survey respondents also expressed their attitudes toward the heads of party factions in the State Duma, or lower house of Russia’s parliament. Thus, 31.9% trust Gennady Zyuganov, longtime head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) (unchanged over the past week); 28.4% trust Sergey Mironov, leader of the A Just Russia — For Truth party (a 2.4 p.p. drop); 17.9% trust Leonid Slutsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) (a 0.7 p.p. decline); and 6.8% trust Alexey Nechayev, chairman of the New People party (a 0.9 p.p. drop).

As for political parties, the level of popular support stood at 42% for the ruling United Russia party (a 1.1 p.p. increase), 9.8% for the KPRF (a 0.4 p.p. rise), 8.3% for the LDPR (a 1 p.p. drop), 4.4% for A Just Russia — For Truth (a 0.2 p.p. decline), and 4.7% for New People (unchanged).