Putin left the Russian presidency in early 2008 with high approval, although this was well ahead of the economic crisis that reverberated throughout the world — including in Russia — later that year. It was also the last year a majority of Russians (63%) believed their country’s leadership was taking Russia in the right direction. After that, Russians’ economic confidence crumbled. Since then, less than half of Russians have believed their leadership was headed in the right direction, and the rest have thought either that leadership is headed in the wrong direction or they don’t know.