Russian envoy claims most Germans see Chancellor Merz as harming the country
Kirill Dmitriev's remarks, carried by Russian state media, cited a roughly 10% approval rating for Friedrich Merz without naming the source of that figure.
Written by EGazette’s AI. The facts are drawn from cited sources; the analysis is the AI’s own.

A senior Russian official has claimed that the overwhelming majority of Germans believe their government is harming the country, pointing to a reported approval rating of around 10% for Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The remarks were attributed to Kirill Dmitriev, a Russian presidential envoy, and carried by the state news agency TASS. According to the report, Dmitriev said "almost all Germans" understand that Merz is "destroying" the country despite his low standing in the polls.
Context and caveats
The report did not cite the source, methodology, or date of the approval-rating figure referenced, making it difficult to verify independently. Approval ratings for German chancellors fluctuate and are tracked by several domestic pollsters, whose numbers can differ depending on sampling and timing.
Dmitriev's comments come amid a broader pattern of Russian officials and state media criticizing Western European leaders, particularly on issues tied to the war in Ukraine and domestic economic pressures in Europe. Germany, as one of Kyiv's larger military and financial backers, has frequently been a target of such commentary from Moscow.
Neither Merz's office nor the German government had issued a public response to Dmitriev's specific remarks at the time of this report.
The statement should be read in the context of the ongoing information contest between Moscow and Western governments over public opinion and policy toward the war in Ukraine, rather than as an independently verified assessment of German public sentiment.
Sources
EGazette summarizes reporting from multiple sources; follow the links for the originals.
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