I'd like to think the Russian people oppose Putin and will force changes, but the more I think about

[captain queeg]

it, I don’t think anything will come of it. As the war drags on and more Russians soldiers die there will be less sympathy for the Ukrainians. The Russians are long suffering and used to living with corruption. They probably figure Putin sucks but that doesn’t equate to favoring the west or Ukraine. It’s kind of like Stalin vs Hitler, they will chose the devil they know. If Putin is deposed somehow, they don’t necessarily believe what would come would be better. Their governments have always been shot thru with corruption

I think Ukraine will prevail but that won’t mean a real change for the Russian people. They can endure much and don’t really hold out hope for things improving for themselves. They’ll endure whatever hardships the sanction cause and ultimately will blame Ukraine and the west. I’m sorry for them but I don’t think any real change will come, not from internal pressure. At least for this stretch of history.

[mucifer]

1. It might just morph into North Korea with more nukes

[Lovie777]

2. Russia like other dictatorships have propaganda machines . . . .

plus they do not hesitate to kill and install constant fear, therefore I sorta feel sorry for the citizens of dictator countries.

[kentuck]

3. I agree with you about the Russian people.

But they will blame Joe Biden and the West. They will not blame Putin. The more they suffer, the more they will blame Biden and Ukraine.

They are not going to turn on Putin because they cannot get a Big Mac.

Putin's war and the Russian casualties will have a much larger impact on Putin's popularity than the sanctions.

[Septua]

4. Does the majority of Russian citizens even know what's...

..going on and why?

[EYESORE 9001]

5. I used to have sympathy for the Russian people (residents of USSR before that)

but now I hold them accountable for the acts of raspootin, as I would hold MAGAts accountable for the acts of Cheeto Benito. They need to awaken by any means available and rise up against the despot threatening the world.

[ChicagoRonin]

6. Don't forget the brain drain

I think a lot of the people who are politically and socially progressive and/or aware of non state-controlled news have fled the country. And those that remain (whether or not by choice) have seen the writing on the wall and are going to lay low.

That means consolidation of the uniformed and true believers.

[kentuck]

7. I heard someone say yesterday...

That the Russian people believe the truth is a lie and the lie is the truth and that they are very cynical, in general. That is what you get with years of propaganda and the "Big Lie". We seem to be heading for that same terrain.

[dalton99a]

8. All they have ever known is authoritarianism

under the czars, then the Communists, then the Putin oligarchy