"Many Russians share Putin's views, but most are indifferent": founder of Free Nations PostRussia Forum

Oleh Mahaletskyi, a geostrategy researcher and founder of the Free Nations PostRussia Forum, spoke about this on Espreso TV. 

"Unfortunately, many Russians share these views (Putin's views – ed.). We need to understand what Russians are—they are a very amorphous mass, and it is quite difficult to distinguish who is truly Russian and who is not. They have yet to resolve the dichotomy between Russians and non-Russians.

On the one hand, there is a significant layer of ultranationalists, supporters of the so-called Black Hundreds, who are even more extreme than Putin himself. In media and human terms—if we can even call them human—figures like Girkin and other representatives of this movement advocate an even more radical right-wing ideology than Putin.

On the other hand, the majority of the population—because they cannot be called citizens, as they refuse to bear political responsibility—is entirely indifferent. Today, if Putin talks about restoring the Soviet Union or the Russian Empire, they applaud. Tomorrow, if he declares NATO and the United States as Russia’s greatest friends, they accept it. The day after, if he proclaims Russia the world's first LGBT empire, they will go along with that too," he said.

Oleh Mahaletskyi emphasized that these people are completely passive and politically disengaged, showing no interest or concern for what is happening to their country, either domestically or internationally.

At the same time, he noted that a small minority seeks to restore their ethnic subjectivity.

"Unfortunately, there aren't many of them, and they are scattered across different regions. These individuals can be ethnically Russian, but often they are from nations still occupied by Moscow—Sakha, Buryats, Bashkirs, Tatars, Karelians, Circassians, and Ingush. These groups have never identified with the Russian state, whether it be the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, or the so-called Russian Federation. They seek to restore their subjectivity and independence, much like Estonians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Azerbaijanis, and Georgians did in 1991.

So, there is this dichotomy: the overwhelming majority of the population is indifferent. About 20 percent strongly support Putin, viewing him as perhaps weak and not on the level of Stalin, desiring a new tsar. Meanwhile, roughly 3-5 percent of citizens see the situation differently, but due to limited opportunities for resistance, their actions are unfortunately not active enough in the pursuit of national liberation," he added.