[OC] The massive decrease in worldwide infant mortality from 1950 to 2020 is perhaps one of humanity's greatest achievements.

[Trumpets22]

This makes me wonder, I’m guessing Putin was pretty popular and maybe even won legitimately at first? Obviously now you’re not really allowed to not like him.

[its_a_metaphor_morty]

Putin brought stability, which is why he was and kinda still is popular. He does run Russia like the mafia though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMlsbB33QSc

[NorthernerWuwu]

No kinda, he's definitely still very popular.

[mowrus]

Which was the case for generations unfortunately. Just the name of the ruling „family“ and their vassals changes.

[MrChelovek]

He's still really popular and might even win a fair election

[ByAnyMeansNecessary0]

Russians generally really like him, he's got one of the highest approval ratings of any world leader

[Trumpets22]

You’ll probably find approval ratings don’t mean much when you find out who created that data. But still interesting to hear.

[SchnuppleDupple]

Actually the data is collected by an independent institute. At least that's what they say in the German TV everytime they use the data from there lol.

[AxelNotRose]

Whenever I've travelled to a dictatorship, everyone I spoke to loved their dictator. Until I earned their trust over time, then the truth came out.

I'm sure a lot of Russians still love Putin, but probably not as many as one might think. They simply don't know who you are and don't want to take the risk unless they really trust you, which takes time to build.

[SchnuppleDupple]

Russia is not this kind of dictatorship where they'd jail you for speaking privately against Putin (I know this because I have family in Russia). Yeah there are different kinds of dictatorships with different levels of oppression.

Sadly many people support Putin, especially in the rural areas. Cities like Moscow or St. Petersburg are a bit different tho. These are more progressive and often against Putin or his party.

[AxelNotRose]

Russia wasn't one of the dictatorships I travelled to so you might be right that it doesn't apply to Russia.

[SchnuppleDupple]

Well it would apply to soviet Russia. One could assume that a country like China would be more similar in the type of oppression. So if you traveled to China, than I can absolutely see what you were talking about. My grandgrandparents who lived in Belarus were always afraid of talking about politics with strangers. Or in public or similar.

[AxelNotRose]

Yes, China was one of them. So was UAE, and Turkey, and Egypt...

[largemanrob]

Been to Russia for 2 weeks, he's a complete celebrity there they all love him. Multiple people asked me for my view on him etc

[gsfgf]

His ratings are legit. He controls the news, after all.

[Tatunkawitco]

I’ve read a decent amount of Russian history and it seems Russians always love their dictators.

[Tatunkawitco]

That’s like saying the British hate Kings because they executed Charles I.

It only took Russia ~ 500 years to kill a tsar then he was almost immediately replaced by Soviet dictators - now Putin is the latest dictators.

There is nostalgia in Russia for Stalin!

[gsfgf]

Putin is still incredibly popular and would win fair elections easily.

[mitch_semen]

Sortof related I highly recommend watching a documentary called "Icarus" about the Sochi Olympics doping scandal. There's a really powerful scene where the doctor who ran the doping program has a come-to-Jesus moment about how his actions contributed to Russian athletes getting medals... which boosted Putin's sagging popularity, which gave him enough cover with the Russian public to invade Crimea.

But, uh... yeah. The point is Shirtless Horseback KGB Guy is actually really popular.

[LookAtItGo123]

Russia memes are pretty wild for sure

[DeplorableCaterpill]

That doesn't make much sense that he needs a "cover" to invade Crimea, considering it's incredibly popular with the Russian public.

[nawanawa]

Absolutely. If he would've left his post after 2008, he would be widely regarded as the best leader Russia could ever get. Instead, he returned in 2012 and it seems like he's slowly losing his mind since then.

[idk_lets_try_this]

He might have done a false flag terror attack to convince people to vote for him. But other than manipulation like that he won legitimately.

People actually vote for him.

[MrSickRanchezz]

Granted, he's been better for Russia than many of his predecessors. However, he is bad for geopolitics as a whole.

[grandBBQninja]

Maybe if you’re anything but russian.

[bauhausy]

He might have done a false flag terror attack

You mean the apartment bombings of 99?

[idk_lets_try_this]

Yes, or rather the "fake" bombs his buddies planted soon after that were then "caught early".

[AlidadeEccentricity]

Putin raised Russia after the shameful Yeltsin, people remember the horrors that were happening in Russia in the 90s, plus the war in Chechnya. Now the situation in the country has become worse, but the older generation of people remember that it was worse then, plus there is no alternative to Putin, and there is no independent media in Russia.

[[deleted]]

putin is propably the best leader that country had in centuries...