Putin approval rating at 88%, highest point in 15 years of his presidency

© Alexei Nikolsky/Russian presidential press service/TASS

, winning 88% performance approval and the highest vote of confidence in his presidency recorded over 15 years, pollsters say.

This was announced at TASS headquarters on Friday as Russian Public Opinion Research Center head Valery Fedorov unveiled latest results from annual assessments carried out since Putin was first elected head of state.

Pollsters gathered views among 1,600 survey respondents in 130 Russian localities. Returns registered a continuing rise in support for the president since the last poll in 2014.