Putin‘s approval ratings are high for two reasons. First is his continuing propaganda that the west wants to destroy Russia and that Russia is a once great empire that will be great yet again. Repeat a lie long enough and people eventually begin to accept it as the truth. This is and has always been a lie.
Second, of which you are probably unaware, Russian society for centuries has had an attitude that it needs a strong leader to protect and provide for them. It is baked into their DNA. First, it was the czars and then the iron rule of Stalin. Putin carefully crafted his image as such a strongman leader. The fortuitous economic boom in the early 2000s made it appear that he was just the kind of leader that his people were looking for, especially after the chaotic Yeltsin years. He also cast himself as anti-corruption, and in the early days did cleanup a lot that had occurred when the Soviet Union dissolved. Ultimately, he turned out to be far more corrupt then Yeltsin. Especially the older population remembered fondly the days of the old Soviet Union empire and Putin seemed to fit the bill.
To the West, Russia seemed to be becoming more democratic and peaceful. There was even some discussion about having them join NATO. Russia seemed to be settling in as a member of the world community. When Bush met with Putin in 2001 he talked about looking into Putin’s eyes and seeing a peaceful soul.
What was conveniently overlooked were Putin‘s machinations behind the scene to create support for his illegal activities and false narrative. He justified the invasions of Chechnya as being necessary because Chechen rebels had blown up apartment buildings in Russia killing hundreds. In point of fact, his own FSB did this. It was a classic false flag operation to justify his illegal invasion of Chechnya and installation of a puppet government. And so it goes. Transnistria, Georgia, Ukraine twice. Putin’s imperialistic ambitions know no bounds. His brutality towards anyone who stands in his way is well established at this point. Why do you think so many countries formerly under the Russian sphere of influence have become NATO members or are seeking to do so? They have a very real fear that they could be next if Putin is allowed to prevail in Ukraine. Did this attitude come from the fact that Putin is misunderstood? No. The governments of the countries that neighbor Russia well know the evil that resides in Putin’s heart.
Initially, some political dissent was allowed by Putin in the press and by opposition parties. This quickly disappeared. Putin wants to push his false narrative and will brook no disagreement from any quarter. Contrary voices have been silenced. Opposition candidates have been jailed or killed. Polling places have been strictly surveilled by his personal army or the FSB. Opinion polls are conducted by the state using a predetermined narrative allowing only one conclusion. I could go on.
A high level of skepticism is required in looking at any information coming out of Russia with regard to the attitude of its population. Most of the statistics are either false or represent the fact that the population is too scared to speak its real opinion because of the probable consequences of being jailed and/or fined. For instance, early in the conflict when Putin called his war a “special military operation”, a Russian citizen could be jailed for up to 5 years for just referring to it as a war.
Let me ask you a simple question. If a leader finds it necessary to control the press with an iron fist, stifle dissent by threatening imprisonment and/or fines, eliminate political opposition and prevent them from participating in elections, closely monitor elections and intimidate voters, outlaw or destroy opposition candidates and parties, how much real support do you think he really has? The answer is not a lot. It should be obvious. Any leader that finds it necessary to take these kinds of actions knows that what he is doing is disapproved of by the vast majority of his population. Only by brutally controlling his society can he continue to do the evil things he wants to do. It is definitely not based upon support of his people.
As to Putin’s brutal conduct of his war in Ukraine, the execution of thousands, if not tens of thousands of the local population, the systematic, rape and pillaging of its local populations, the continued assault on civilian infrastructure and a variety of other actions not only represent Putin’s total disdain for the lives of Ukrainian civilians, they have been classified as war crimes. The almost unprecedented step by the international criminal court in The Hague to indict him for war crimes indicates how evil he really is. And then there are the humanitarian organizations, such as the UN Commission on Human Rights, which has documented over 30,000 atrocities committed against the Ukrainian population since the start of the war. It goes on and on.
Before the war, approximately 30% of the people living in the Russian occupied eastern oblasts (even as high as 70% in some pockets) had a favorable attitude towards Russia and Putin. That has now dropped to virtually 0. All Ukrainians, even those who previously were sympathetic to the idea of a closer relationship with Russia, despise them. They hate them with a passion that you could not possibly imagine. All of Ukraine, even the occupied eastern oblasts, are united in their attitude that Russia needs to be defeated and it needs to be gone from all their territory, including those areas illegally annexed in 2014. For them it is non-negotiable.
You keep on trying to suggest that the situation is complex and therefore a nuanced approach and attitude needs to be maintained. I agree that the issues are complex in terms of how all this will work out post conflict and how it will end. No one wants to see Russia use a nuke. No one wants to see the Russian Federation dissolve into utter chaos (which is a highly possible outcome at this point). There is a lot that is unknown. What is not unknown is that Putin is the modern day embodiment of evil. He is as evil as Hitler. This is not a matter of opinion. He has proven it over the more than 20 years of his rule. Some things are black and white. Not everything is a shade of gray. Sometimes evil is just evil, not a misunderstood strong man. You need to wake up to that fact.
