No, it's not just leadership. I won't claim I'm an expert but I know more about Russia than your average western European, having travelled there on holidays mu

No, it's not just leadership. I won't claim I'm an expert but I know more about Russia than your average western European, having travelled there on holidays multiple times and having made friends and acquaintances there. And I've learned from personal interactions that many Russians tend to have this "oh I don't get into politics, the government will fix it, it's too complicated for us to understand anyway" attitude. And so naturally this breeds indifference and corruption. It's a shithole with horrendous leadership, and an ignorant, apathetic, and for the most part submissive, population[1]. So yes, most individuals are largely responsible. It's not just me saying, there's plenty of data of their fucked up mentality. Just earlier this week I saw some poll saying that most Russians, even those that disagreed with the war, wanted to "finish what was started". It's hilarious, because I've said before one important characteristic of Russian culture is "if what you're doing isn't working, try the exact same thing but harder", and this poll matches exactly that. Though this isn't exactly a recent development, it's been like that for at least 200 years. [1] Btw another important attribute of Russian culture is they're always the victim. Inb4 you tell me "it's not their fault they're oppressed, they're the victim of their leadership".