MOSCOW: Half of Russia’s emerging middleclass do not believe in the stability delivered by former president Vladimir Putin, fear a crisis may loom and would like to emigrate, according to independent pollsters Levada. “Those who should be grateful are not very grateful, but the situation is very fragile, very unstable and they fear it could end very soon and this is why they are thinking about leaving the country,” said analyst Denis Volkov of the Levada Centre on Thursday in a telephone interview.

Putin claimed his eight-year rule as president restored Russia’s fortunes in the world and liked to contrast its strong economic growth with the chaotic post-Soviet era of the 1990s when capitalism first reached modern Russia. But the Kremlin has not convinced half of those polled in focus groups in 14 cities by Levada that there is true stability in Russia.

Among reasons cited is that the country is “very unstable” or the fear of an “apocalypse”. “I think it is very much connected with the feeling the situation is not very stable because the main institutions do not work and this group also said courts and police do not work properly,” said Volkov.