> I am not Russian but my impression is that a large majority of Russians favor Putin and it's hard to imagine how he could be overthrown. A massive peaceful p

> I am not Russian but my impression is that a large majority of Russians favor Putin and it's hard to imagine how he could be overthrown. A massive peaceful protest that the leader is powerless to suppress and that forces him to step down is just one (and very happy) scenario of overthrowing a leader. This indeed is not very likely to happen. There always remains a military coup, however, which does not require a support of the population. But overthrowing a government is a scary business. Who is going to come in their stead? Will their be a power struggle? Will it turn violent? Will their be a civil war (a very real prospect in a country such as Russia, where the provinces have historically been exploited by the metropolis and strongly despise it). I am astonished people here talk so lightly of overthrowing Putin, as if he is the only villain and the only obstacle to the better future, and once he is removed from the scene everything is hunky-dory.