Ruble’s Collapse Now Leading Russians to Remember 1990s and Thus Depriving Putin of His ‘Last Line of Defense,’ Gallyamov Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Nov. 27 – For Russians, “the main argument” in favor of Putin is that the Kremlin leader rescued them from the disasters of the 1990s, but the collapse of the ruble exchange rate in recent days has caused many of them to remember that period and thus is depriving him of his “last line of defense,” Abbas Gallyamov says.
    According to the former Putin speechwriter and now Putin critic, “this is already the third shock of this type.” The first is the war in Ukraine and the second is a crime wave sparked by returning veterans (t.me/abbasgallyamovpolitics/6675 reposted at echofm.online/opinions/poslednij-rubezh-oborony).
    More significant is the fact that while the ruble declined earlier at the start of the war, this time around, the war itself has not eclipsed the fall in the value of the ruble as far as most Russians are concerned. That means that now as compared to early 2022, the Russian people are drawing comparisons with the 1990s and Putin is losing their trust as a result.