I was a big fan of Gospodin Putin, but some of the moves he's made in recent times have definitely moved things backward a bit, (actually he's done great harm to the progression of free markets) so now I would give him maybe a 65% approval rating. I'm sure this is not news to you, I absolutely agree with your observations...
I believe his personal ratings are now below 50%, however the majority of Russians don't see who could challenge Putin. I might dig more info on the ratings.