> They [..] seem to still support him. With Putin controlling the media and, well, much of public life, what else did you expect? It's not like you can just go

> They [..] seem to still support him. With Putin controlling the media and, well, much of public life, what else did you expect? It's not like you can just go do an anti-Putin demonstration without fear for your future. Don't forget that in all of Russia's history, they've never been a functioning democracy, never had proper free speech for a decent stretch of time. Putin is just the next one in a long line of, well, czars. If, for millennia, an entire country's ethos includes "well, the boss is the boss, innit? what are we gonna do about it?" then reelection is a self-fulfilling prophecy. That does not make the Russians bad people. It just makes them stoic pessimists :-)