Putin slides down polls

Russians are losing confidence in the ability of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's Government to revive their struggling economy, a poll by the Levada Centre showed.

All three of Russia's main polling agencies have registered a dip in the popularity of Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev as the economic crisis takes its toll on poll ratings that had remained strong for years.

Twenty-six per cent of 1600 Russians polled late last month said they had confidence that "the current government could in the near future achieve positive changes" in the economy, down from 31 per cent in October and 33 per cent in September.