Russians generally support its countries’ imperialist activity. They supported the USSR, Afghan war (until it went terribly wrong), Chechen wars, war against Ge

Russians generally support its countries’ imperialist activity. They supported the USSR, Afghan war (until it went terribly wrong), Chechen wars, war against Georgia, first land grab against Ukraine, and now, it seems, this one. You can always argue, correctly, that it’s hard to know what’s going on in an autocratic country, but many of these polls were un controversial and simply not stating support for eg the annexation of Crimea wouldn’t be an offence. I do feel sorry for how badly this is going to affect people in Russia, but equally Russians don’t seem to mind serving up hot hell to their neighbours. I don’t know how you can break this cycle without making Russians understand how badly they are hurting others. Russia may not be a democracy but the state does rely on popular support for legitimacy, and has had it in the past 30-odd years.