The vast majority of Russian voters will vote for Vladimir Putin. Is Kremlin propaganda to blame? Testimonies from voters and decryption with a sociologist.
Even if it is always difficult for a Russian voter to publicly express his opinion, for fear of reprisals or lack of information, Czech television went to ask Russians to give their opinion on the presidential election which should conclude this Sunday by a triumphant re-election of Vladimir Putin.
First observation, the young people met by our colleagues are often quite enthusiastic about the head of the Kremlin. Example with these two testimonies.
Pavel Kipriyanov, independent actor: “If we talk in general about the path chosen by my country and my government, well, I understand it perfectly, I accept it, except for certain things that perhaps do not suit me. But generally speaking, I’m happy with the leadership of my country and I think it’s great.”
Milena Shikina, student, wife of Pavel: “Well, it seems to me it’s been since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the ’90s, when the country was not in the best shape and was in a pretty big decline. And then Putin came along and the way our country lives today. I think it’s a good result.”
For this Russian sociologist, many factors explain this behavior. But regarding young people, Lev Gudkov thinks that they “have lost understanding of the Soviet times. They have no experience of it and have nothing to compare it to. They were brought up, one might say, under Putin, they know nothing else.”
Question of generation then? Everything is not that simple. Among the thousands of voters who decided to leave Russia in the last two years, many were young men, determined to flee the regime and conscription to fight in Ukraine. But, proportionately, many were unable to leave while others did not wish to leave their homeland. By choice. From there, vote for Vladimir Putin despite everything?
A sign of the fractures in Russian society, Milena’s father assumes his opposition to the Moscow regime. But Artur Shikin, a construction entrepreneur, had to flee Russia and take refuge in Georgia. His opinion is clear. “There are 150 million people, they can’t oppose it? It’s like with Stalin: they said that Stalin was responsible for everything. But at the same time, a third of the population imprisoned another third of the population and kept them in prisons, all this was done by people.”
Concerning older voters, Lev Gudkov also has an explanation. “Under Putin”explains Lev Gudkov, “the idea of the future has disappeared. People have no image of the future and, therefore, there are no guidelines for development. That is, in a sense, all that propaganda can say: preserve the present.”
One thing is fairly certain: recent sociological surveys have shown that the majority of Russian citizens are loyal to Vladimir Putin, with support of around 70% compared to 20% for the opposition. And two thirds of this same population accept without reservation the information broadcast by state television and pro-Kremlin media. By conviction or by self-sacrifice?
