the russians are playing the various factions against each other, yes. but they couldn't do it successfully if there weren't real, deep, vicious, and simmering

the russians are playing the various factions against each other, yes. but they couldn't do it successfully if there weren't real, deep, vicious, and simmering rifts to begin with. furthermore, the institutions responsible for generating public unity are, to put it lightly, in shreds. people don't trust the media, and there is little in the way of genuine investigative reporting in any event. people don't trust the government's agencies -- nor are many of those agencies beneficial to the public anyways. local governments are facing unprecedented system failure; many can't provide basic necessities like clean water. territories like puerto rico can't count on federalism any more after being let down in their moments of great need. putin didn't cause any of these problems by spamming propaganda on facebook.