More than half of Russians think everyone in power is dishonest, a survey showed on Monday, from the president and parliament to government and the courts.
"This goes a long way to explaining the colossal level of political apathy in society," said Alexander Konovalov, president of the Institute for Strategic Assessments.
Just under one in three of the 1,600 people surveyed by ROMIR Monitoring called President Vladimir Putin honest, and the figure fell to just 5 percent for the government and 2 percent for the State Duma, the lower house of parliament.
The Duma is packed with members of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party and critics say many deputies rubber-stamp legislation while enjoying the perks of office.
Corruption is also endemic at all levels of Russian society, from traffic cops to tax officials. Transparency International ranked Russia joint 126th on its list of cleanest countries, on a par with Sierra Leone, Niger and Albania.
"People have faith in very little. That is the reality of our way of life," Konovalov told Ekho Moskvy radio.
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