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Originally Posted by TheoFleury
Just curious how do you know support is rising? Is this based on observations of those you associate with or polls? Honestly if I lived in Russia I would probably be afraid to vote online anonymously even. Pretty good chance polls are doctored anyway. I don't blame any Russian citizen who is in favor really. A bunch of factors that come into play. I wouldn't want to get black bagged into a van or see family killed because of something I said if I'm being honest here. Putin has put his people in a no win scenario
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The risk of speaking out is definitely real, especially if you are a person of influence. I also think unwavering patriotism is really big in Russia. There seems to be the sentiment that many people don't want to be fighting with Ukraine, so they easily buy into what Putin is selling. For some that are against the war, they still support it because regardless of what is happening, they still want Russia to be victorious. Right or wrong isn't the issue for those people, it's about winning or losing. They feel that they are already in too deep and the damage to their country is already done, so winning at this point is just preferable, so might as well support it.
The U.S. is similar in some ways, and I suppose most countries would be like that. For example, the Iraq War was widely unpopular in the U.S. You certainly had the "hurrah" right wing supporters that just wanted to kick ass, but a lot of people opposed the war on moral grounds still supported the overall effort and wanted the U.S. to at least be victorious and not routed. A lot of democrats and left leaners vocally criticized the war, but used the "support the troops" rallying cry to justify continuing the overall effort. It was probably a relative minority that realistically thought just pulling out mid-invasion was in the best interests of the country.