NYT: Russia's Military, Once Creaky, Is Modern and Lethal

[Jedi Guy]

19. Not so sure that a majority of people in Russia hate Putin.

The fall of the Soviet Union diminished Russia's standing in the world in a big way, as they went from being a global superpower to... well, kind of a rinky-dink regional power, if we're being honest. The world respected (or at least feared) the Soviet Union. Putin has done basically what Trump did in that he tapped into that anger and resentment, that feeling of being hard-done-by.

If he can resurrect a new version of the Soviet Union, most Russians would probably see that as a good thing. I read an article not long ago about how a lot of Russians pine for the "good old days" of the Soviet Union's heyday. I don't think they're pining for communism as an economic model, but for the lost glory of the old Soviet Union.

Then there's the fact that people critical of Putin tend to end up dead. Even if a majority of Russians hate him, I don't foresee them lining up to shout it from the rooftops given how many folks have mysteriously fallen out of windows. Putin has in place the sort of repressive police state apparatus that Trump only dreamed of.