Been to Russia and live on the border of it. Basically if you have a chance of beating Putin you aren't going to be an option to vote for. The part of the government who decides who will be the options is controlled by Putin. The approval is pretty much bullshit, I haven't asked everyone in Russia but I have yet to meet someone who supports Putin, especially after he invaded Ukraine.

[–] sab@kbin.social 5 points 10 months ago

I know Russians who live in Europe and who are deeply anti war and Putin, but whose families are still completely buying into Russian propaganda and who think their own children are lying to them.

I also know Russians from less brainwashed families who are critical.

More strikingly perhaps, I had a friend a little less than a decade ago who went to study in Russia for half a year, and came back completely apologetic for everything Putin stood for. I cut contact and haven't heard from her since, so I have no idea where she stands now, but it was a forceful demonstration of the propaganda apparatus. It's not that they're necessarily evil or bad people, they've just been subject to world-class propaganda for decades. Opposing Putin after all that takes quite a lot of work.