Putin has Broad Support among Russians because He Shares Values of ‘Deep People’ He is Part of and So Often Refers To, Skripov Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 13 – Vladimir Putin has enormous support among the broad swath of the Russian population whom he refers to as “the deep people” because he springs from their number and shares their conviction that “poverty is not a vice” but must be “fully compensated by the cult of the state and imperialism,” Vladimir Skripov says.

            “That is why external expansion has always been the main focus of the Kremlin’s policies,” the Russian blogger says; and it is also why it is wrong to assume that the Russian people will turn away from Putin and that policy even if the costs of supporting him and carrying out his policies rise (ehorussia.com/new/node/29069).

            According to Skripov, “imperialism and all the actions which arise from it are organic parts of the consciousness and mores of ‘the broad masses of the people.” The leader may direct that imperialism in one or another way but he can always draw on it. “If Putin had attacked Kyrgyzstan, [the deep people] would have hated the Kyrgyz.”

            That is why “Putin appreciates his ‘deep people’ so much” and can count on them to back him through thick and thin. More combat losses won’t change that and produce “anti-war sentiments.” The situation in Putin’s Russia is “exactly the opposite: with each new coffin, militancy among the people only increases.”

            Many outside observers are shocked when Russian mothers “complain about the unbearable conditions in which their mobilized sons find themselves but at the same time ask not to stop the war but to provide them with ammunition.” Because of this, no one should have any illusions about Putin’s support or the prospects for ending the war in Ukraine quickly.