> ordinary Russian people will also suffer enormously
True. But who will remove Putin from power if not the Russian people? They won't do so without suffering a lot, they have been used to criminal leaders for more than a century.
I am not saying it's the fault of individual people. But all there governments have been incredibly inhuman basically for centuries. It certainly affects the society.
As a Hungarian I'm quite happy that finally the EU put pressure on Hungary to not steal all EU funds and direct to Viktor Orban and his family. After 12 years finally we have an election where we have a good chance (about 50%) to unseat him and significantly decrease corruption in our country.
Of course in Russia the situation is much worse at this point, but Russians know that they can get back their money if they elect a less corrupt / aggressive leader.
> but Russians know that they can get back their money if they elect a less corrupt / aggressive leader.
I don't think there are any clear opposition candidates in Russia. They have been silenced, imprisoned, nearly poisoned. So even if there were an election without massive fraud I doubt many Russians would know whom to vote for.
Probably something between 70% and 80% according to independent polls. Of course after most oppositional candidates where hindered by the government in various ways.
How many of them believed that Putin would start a aggression to erase whole country from the map? Very few. As still the vast majority of the people in Ukraine did not believe it a week ago. And many European leaders either. Such wars have not existed in Europe since Hitler and not many believed they would return any time soon.
It wouldn't be zero. Strangely enough there really are Russians that want to go back to 'the good old days' and they will vote for Putin in an actual free election.
No. It's difficult to say how a free a fair election would look like because there has not been any free press for at least 10 years (if ever...) and it got much worse recently. So it's not even clear who would be the opposition.
But I would not be too surprised if were similar as in the US. 50% vote for Trump.
True. But who will remove Putin from power if not the Russian people? They won't do so without suffering a lot, they have been used to criminal leaders for more than a century.
I am not saying it's the fault of individual people. But all there governments have been incredibly inhuman basically for centuries. It certainly affects the society.