All polls and personal interactions I have tell me that the vast majority of Russians love Putin.
They’re weird that way.
You can’t have a poll that reliably reflects public opinion when speech is stifled. So there is no telling what people really think, except to the extent that gas-lighting works.
As explained to me by a Russian, the Russians inside of Russia love him, but the Russians outside do not. The inside Russians don’t want to become another USA and it’s their choice not our media’s.
The attacks on Russian civilians as they vote is not having the desired effect of pumping up sagging Ukrainian public support for NATO’s war. Of course, these Ukrainian/NATO attacks on Russian civilians further drive home the necessity of Putin’s SMO for the average Russian. Imagine the lunacy of ISIS attacks on American polling places in an attempt to undercut Trump’s support as he eradicated ISIS. The NATO string manipulators are very, very stupid people.
Hard to say. They may be lying. If I lived in Russia, I’ll tell everyone “Putin is great” and I’ll vote for him. But that is not the truth.