Who are Putin’s supporters?

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The people that support Putin are some of the most interesting. In the way that their psychology works. Humans are often at their most blind when they are full of hatred or full of tribalism. And it is fascinating, though sometimes upsetting, to see how anger or ignorance can sometimes warp a person’s mind.

The majority of the young, and educated Russians are almost completely against Putin and the war. But there are some who are not. As many as 70 percent of Russians in Russia could be pro-Putin, though many will simply be terrified to say their true opinion.

95 percent of Russians don’t speak English. So (and especially outside of St Petersburg and Moscow) the only access to media is what they can read and listen to in Russian. With the propaganda increasing, and the state shutting down free media, there are less and less avenues for them to find out their own information and to form their own opinions with.

There are also the remnants of Tsarist attitudes, especially in the smaller cities, where the belief is, “The leader will protect us. He is just doing what he needs to.” Prevalent in older people, these opinions are very hard to shift, some are being sent footage from their own family members in Ukraine, but refuse to believe, and cannot believe, that Russian soldiers and bombs are actually attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure, and are not just attacking “Nazis,” as they have been told by the state.

As for the foreigners, almost every American, UK, and citizen of other “unfriendly nations” have left Russia. Remaining are small bands of people, who either have made Russia there home and have kids and family and find it too difficult to leave, or those who are convincing themselves they are neutral in all this.

Then there are those that support the war, and even relish in what Putin is doing, which is, in their eyes, fighting the global empire. Fighting back against America. Fighting Nato. These people, if not Russian, are often Latin American, but some are Indian, from the Middle East, and from other places. They see, in their eyes, the hypocrisy of America scolding Russia for invading a country, when to them America seems to invade a new country every fourth or fifth year. They look at Iraq, and Vietnam, and countless other wars, and there is a strong hatred of America in general, and, as they deem it, how it keeps other countries down.  Some also hate the part they think America had, in trying to use Ukraine as a chess board, as they think they have also done throughout Latin America and the world for decades, though some don’t see Russia as now doing something similar.

Some of these people crave a new world order, or at least a change in the world as they see it, where nations outside of the west share bit more power, and the power is not monopolized as much.

There are also many Russians that despise aspects of western culture, most of all, as they call them, the cancel culture, and the politically-correct culture, that they want absolutely no part of.  To them, being in Russia, they have the impression that it is somewhat stable, with values that are often aligned, where traditions have maintained and give it a strong social spine and feeling of structure. They see, and are shown, the west as chaotic and sometimes senseless, with many factions and social groups at war with each other. Putin has been quick to compromise on this, citing these divisions many times in his speeches, and gathering support in doing so.

“Nazi” is a word which casts dread and unites people against a movement like very few others. And Putin is using that word as one of his tools to unify the country, by taking the Russians back to world war 2, a period which plays strongly on their personal identities and sense of pride, in which they also suffered a lot against a common enemy. This form of propaganda he is using a lot, and in some ways, it is working, for now.

It is yet to be seen what effect the sanctions will have. Will they turn Russia further inward, as Putin turns Russia into a new North Korea? Will they turn Russia towards forming stronger alliances with other countries governed by dictatorships? Or will the country implode under the pressure? Or, will someone stop him?