Russians’ Attachment to the State Much Stronger than Their Respect for Putin, Shelin Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Apr. 4 – New polls show that Russians are far more prepared to turn in those who criticize the state or its actions in Ukraine than to denounce to the authorities those who criticize Putin, an indication, Sergey Shelin says, that their attachment to the state is much stronger than their respect for the Kremlin leader.
    Only 14 percent say they would turn in someone who criticizes Putin while 24 percent indicate that they are prepared to serve as snitches to those who criticize Russia’s action in Ukraine, the Russian commentator says (moscowtimes.ru/2025/04/03/rossiyanin-vesnoi-2025-go-pochti-schastliv-i-gotov-stuchat-a160093).
    The same survey found that 69 percent were not prepared to denounce those who criticize Putin, while only 56 percent were not ready to turn in someone who criticized the Russian war in Ukraine, equally striking figures because the Kremlin obviously views criticism of Putin at least as threatening as criticism of the war, Shelin continues.
    This pattern, which is likely to continue as long as Russians feel that they personally are doing well, reflects two things. On the one hand, it is a sign that repression is far from the only driver of the willingness to denounce others. How well people think they are doing helps explain why they are less prepared to criticize the state than its leader.
    And on the other, it suggests that Russians do make a distinction between the state and Putin and that their willingness to support him no matter what is likely to be less than their support for whatever they view as state policy, the kind of adaptive mechanism that helps explain why Russians in Stalin’s times denounced those the regime pointed to as enemies.