Poll: Support for Russian President Vladimir Putin waning

MOSCOW, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Independent Russian pollster Levada Center said Tuesday data show support for Russian President Vladimir Putin is waning.

Of 1,603 people taking part in the survey, conducted mid-November, 52 percent of the respondents told pollsters they had a favorable opinion of the three-term president. Russia news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday similar polls conducted during Putin's first two terms as president reported an approval rating above 68 percent.

Putin's re-election to a third non-consecutive term as president in 2011 was met with widespread opposition. Human rights groups have since accused his administration of enacting laws meant to silence his critics.

Dmitry Badovsky, a former presidential adviser on domestic policy, told the Russian news agency Levada's poll wasn't scientific. Levada said its survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. No information was given on survey methodology.

Levada's results were published the same day anti-corruption organization Transparency International released its 2013 indices of 177 countries. It ranked Russia at 127th with a score of 28, with 100 being the least corrupt.