Russia’s incumbent President Vladimir Putin is likely to win the 2018 presidential race with 81.1 per cent of votes, leaving all rival candidates far behind, a public opinion poll by the government-owned research centre VTSIOM showed on Monday.
About 67 per cent of the Russian citizens tend to take part in the voting, among which 81.1 per cent of the people would support Putin, according to a special research project launched by VTSIOM for the 2018 presidential elections on March 18.
Results of the research also showed that Pavel Grudinin, a farmer supported by the Russian Communist Party, might get 7.6 per cent of votes, while Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, might get 4.2 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported.
TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak is likely to get 0.7 per cent of votes, and Grigory Yavlinsky, founder of the opposition Yabloko party, would get 0.6 per cent. The Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights Boris Titov might just get 0.3 per cent.
The survey was conducted over the phone on January 8-10, involving 3,000 Russians aged more than 18 years old.