The attitude of the Russian society on Putin`s Policy and its reflection on war in Ukraine
Nika Chitadze.
Professor of the International Black Sea University.
Director of the Center for International Studies
President of the George C. Marshall Alumni Union, Georgia - International and Security Research Center
The answer to the opinion, "Putin is bad but
ordinary Russian people do not want a war", or that "does not
everyone like Putin in Russia" and so on.
First
of all, it should be noted that the majority of the Russian population approved
of the genocide of the Chechen nation carried out by Russia as a result of the
two Chechen wars, when according to various data from 160 to 200 thousand
people in the territory of Chechnya
Died.
As a result, a large portion of the Russian population supported the election
of Putin as President (as a successful leader) for a third term (Putin's second
term expired in 2008).
As
a result of the attack on Georgia in 2008, Putin (then the Prime Minister)'s
rating increased even more, and out of 450 members of the State Duma, almost all
members of the "People's Choice" supported Abkhazia and the so-called
Recognition of the "independence" of South Ossetia.
As
a result of the invasion of Crimea in 2014, the percentage of Putin's
supporters exceeded 80%. And in February of this year, Ukraine's confidence in
Putin increased from 60 to 71%.
As
for the fact that "not everyone in Russia supports Putin", yes, not
everyone supports him, but those who are critical of him, most of them support
either the Communist Party or the so-called The Liberal Democratic Party (led
by Zhirinovsky), ie the forces in no less imperialist positions. For example,
in the "elections" to the Russian State Duma in September 2021, the
ruling United Russia party (United Russia) received 49.82% of the vote, followed
by the Communist Party of Russia with 18 votes. 93%, while the third place went
to the so-called. Liberal Democratic Party - 7.55%. I want a conclusion for
you.
Consequently,
if anyone in Russia today comes out and protests against the war, I think most
of them will not feel so sorry for the Ukrainian people but will be personally
affected by the Western sanctions against Russia and become
"pacifists" and "peace activists." The question is, why did
not the same people protest against the genocide of the Chechen nation? The
brutal aggression carried out by the Kremlin against Georgia in 2008 (and not
only)? The occupation of Crimea in 2014 and the so-called Support for the
"Republics" of Donbas and Lugansk? Because the sanctions imposed by
the West in 2014 (the West did not impose sanctions at all in 2008) were not so
severe and did not have a significant impact on the standard of living of an
ordinary Russian citizen.
Consequently,
it can be concluded that the vast majority of Russian society is an indirect
accomplice of the policies of Putin and the Kremlin (who elected Putin as
president) or a direct accomplice (of the military that is bombing the civilian
population of Ukraine today). Therefore, the roots of Russia's aggressive
policy must first be sought in Russian society.
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