A poll by the independent Levada Center finds 51% of Russians want Putin to stay on as president in 2024 - beyond his term limits - down from 67% who felt the same way in August 2017, bne IntelliNews reports. Putin’s popularity rating remains high at 79% in May, down only slightly from 82% a month earlier. The bne IntelliNews article notes, however, that Moscow’s pension age will hike will be an important test for Putin’s popular support because it is the first time his administration is directly increasing the burden on citizens in order to pay for government incompetence and inability to spur faster economic growth.