A number of Russia’s influential figures have recently issued public appeals to President Vladimir Putin, criticizing his government and policies, with some of his loyalists even threatening an insurrection – the latest wave of public outcry over the country’s strained wartime economy and increasingly tight internet restrictions.
While the dissent does not indicate an imminent threat to Putin’s rule, analysts say it poses a new and growing challenge to the Kremlin.
“More and greater efforts are needed to maintain the status quo,” Mark Galeotti, an expert on Russian politics and head of Mayak Intelligence Consulting, wrote in an analysis.
Here’s a look at the public outcry in Russia and what’s driving it:
Influencers appeal to Putin, but his approval ratings drop
A 19-minute video posted by popular Russian blogger Victoria Bonya has been viewed 31 million times on Instagram since it was posted 10 days ago.
In the video, Bonya, who has 13.6 million followers on the platform, complained to Putin that he might have been misled about a number of things – local authorities’ poor handling of recent flooding in the southern province of Dagestan, the slaughter of livestock in Siberia that sparked farmers’ protests, internet restrictions that crippled the economy and the pressure on small businesses.
Bonya, a well-known Russian TV host who now lives abroad, stressed that she supports Putin, but said that ordinary Russians and his own officials are afraid to tell him the truth.
“There are a lot of things you don’t know,” she said. “People are screaming right now. Everything they own has been robbed and they continue to be robbed. Businesses are dying.”
Reactions to the video snowballed. Other Russian influencers expressed similar sentiments in their videos, some of which were later deleted.
In a rare acknowledgment of public criticism, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Kremlin officials had seen the video and were “doing a lot of work” on the issues raised by Bonya. “None of this went unnoticed,” Peskov said.
Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, a long-time supporter of Putin, lambasted the government in a parliamentary speech on Tuesday, saying his party had raised these issues before. He threatened a repeat of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 if steps were not taken to resolve these problems.
Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and loyal military bloggers also regularly publish predictions about the insurgency.
Meanwhile, Russia’s state-controlled pollster VTsIOM reported that Putin’s approval ratings have continued to decline in recent weeks. Data released on Friday showed his approval rating at 65.6%, the lowest level reported by pollsters since before the war in Ukraine and down from 77.8% in late December 2025.
Russia’s top independent pollster, the Levada Center, also reported that Putin’s approval rating dropped slightly, from 85% in October 2025 to 80% in March.
Internet restrictions spark wave of dissatisfaction
Russians across the country have faced periodic mobile internet shutdowns since last spring. Authorities have called it a way to thwart Ukrainian drone attacks, but critics see the outages as another step in the government’s years-long effort to bring the internet under tight control.
The shutdown comes amid sweeping, growing internet censorship that has seen thousands of websites and platforms blocked or restricted in Russia over the years, including two of the most popular messaging apps – WhatsApp and Telegram.
Authorities are promoting a new state-backed messaging app Max, seen by many as a surveillance tool, while also blocking VPNs to thwart widespread censorship circumvention.
Public dissatisfaction with the measures sparked acts of resistance, including petitions to the presidential palace, class action lawsuits against the government, some street pickets and multiple attempts to organize larger protests, all of which were suppressed by the authorities.
The Kremlin seems unfazed. At a government meeting on Thursday, Putin once again justified the shutdown as necessary “to prevent terrorist attacks” and urged authorities to better inform the public about the restrictions.
Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia-Eurasia Center wrote in a Telegram post that his comments showed that security services “are doing everything correctly and will continue as long as they see fit.”
Economic strains fuel frustration
The critical videos emerged amid growing pressure on the country’s wartime economy.
Economic growth stalled after the initial boost from massive military spending faded. High interest rates and increased taxes imposed by central banks to control inflation have also put pressure on businesses.
Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov recently said the economy’s reserves were “largely depleted,” and Putin told a televised government meeting earlier this month that economic growth had declined for two consecutive months. He said Russia’s GDP fell by 1.8% from January to February.
Denis Volkov, director of the Levada Center, said economic problems are the main reason for growing dissatisfaction with Putin and the government and falling support.
“When sentiment starts to deteriorate, the polls start to show that, because life gets harder,” Volkov said.
Ukraine war sees no end in sight
Sam Green, professor of Russian politics at King’s College London, also pointed out that Russia’s war in Ukraine has now entered its fifth year and is increasingly less likely to end soon.
Those hopes coalesced after U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 and spearheaded efforts to negotiate a peace deal, which has since stalled.
“The Kremlin did give the idea some serious weight as well. I think that’s baked into public opinion,” Green said. “And that didn’t happen.”
The resulting disappointment and frustration meant Putin “paid something”.
Putin won’t fall anytime soon
“None of this can be seen as heralding the end of Putin’s rule,” Galeotti said in his analysis.
“There is no meaningful organized opposition,” Galeotti said, and Putin’s “control of the security apparatus remains unchallenged.” During the war, “even his critics did not want to destabilize the country.”
Volkov echoed the sentiment, saying dissatisfaction will only slowly grow. Putin’s approval ratings are falling “from very high levels.”
“Right now, we shouldn’t underestimate or exaggerate this because we’re just getting started,” he said.
Meanwhile, political analyst Abbas Galyamov, a former Putin speechwriter, said frustration will continue to deepen as people feel empowered by criticism from public figures.
“A sense of power in politics,” he said, “is largely determined by the breadth of the positions you share and defend.”