A sociologist from Moscow explains how the nation learned to deny reality, in Ukraine and at home under Vladimir Putin.
Highlights
- Russian sociologist Greg Yudin says most people under Putin’s rule passively support his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
- He says two decades of authoritarian rule have made the Kremlin’s line easy to accept.
- If the war lasts longer than a few months, the mood may change, and Putin may be tempted to escalate, he says.
- People are swallowing it, and they kind of buy this narrative, he writes.
- People generally don’t want to have anything in common with common politics in common.
- There is an incredible contempt for all kinds of politics in Russia, he adds, and disdain for the country’s 40 million people.