Russia’s ruling party hits 32.1% support six weeks before parliamentary elections

Support for Russia's ruling United Russia party has fallen to 32.1%, its lowest level since late May, according to a recent survey. The decline comes just six weeks before parliamentary elections scheduled for September 18-20. The Russian online outlet Agentstvo cited figures from the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) collected between July 27 and August 2.

A week earlier, United Russia had garnered 33.5% support, with the party's popularity peaking at 35.5% on June 8-14. Over the past month, United Russia's support has dropped by 3.4 percentage points. Meanwhile, the Communist Party's support has risen slightly to 10.4%, and the Liberal Democratic Party has climbed to 9.3%. Nonparliamentary party support has also increased to 10.3%, its highest level since April 13-19.

However, it remains unclear which individual nonparliamentary parties have gained the most support. The Wall Street Journal reported on August 2, citing anonymous sources, that Russian authorities may announce a new phase of forced mobilization after the elections.