Nobody - not one single person on this earth - knows with any accuracy what the state of #Russian public opinion is about #Putin's war on #Ukraine, so arguments and commentary that blame for this on the Russian people are analytical junk, as well as morally suspect.
There's no reason to deny there *is* support for Putin's war in Russia: some of it positive/ideological (pan-Slavists, Orthodox believers, regime loyalists), some of it "negative", from people who cannot support the killing of Russian soldiers and/or the nation being defeated.
Note, however, there are severe penalties in #Russia for the expression of dissent against this war, and *even so* there have been mass demonstrations across the whole country, with thousands of people arrested, and open elite dissatisfaction even on the main propaganda channel.
Note, too, as highlighted by Alexey @Navalny and many other oppositionists and liberals: #Russian public opinion - like all public opinion - is not static, and is quite malleable, especially once there has been time for facts about this war to break through the regime's bubble.
It is not that it *cannot* be true #Russians in their majority support #Putin's war: Russians themselves are some of the most concerned about this possibility (e.g.
https://twitter.com/navalny/status/1501123388181557251). But there is simply no way of knowing that answer right now, or how lasting any answer is
In summary:
1) We do not know what the state of Russian public opinion is
2) Such opinion is not fixed
3) There are strong indications of deep, widespread opposition to Putin's war
4) Have a little respect for the Russians taking such risks, rather than condemning them from afar
1) We do not know what the state of Russian public opinion is
2) Such opinion is not fixed
3) There are strong indications of deep, widespread opposition to Putin's war
4) Have a little respect for the Russians taking such risks, rather than condemning them from afar
There would be no way to trust these numbers even if they were measured in good faith - #Russians know at this moment how dangerous it is to express opposition to this war - but in this case good money says these figures are simply propaganda inventions
https://twitter.com/DAlperovitch/status/1503218658251841551
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