I would love to hear the thoughts of this leftist community, not least any comrade in Russia. In the US it's so hard to get any serious Russia news/analysis because of the propaganda here- you have red guys that love Russia & Putin to own the libs, and you have blue guys that hate Russia & Putin because it's their favorite boogeyman. I ask because I personally don't like Putin for his war on gayness (wake me up when we get to war of gayness) but I understand that countries in the US's crosshairs are those that make their history under the least self-selected circumstances. I was looking at some stats when this question came to mind:
UA
RU
So material conditions have definitely improved under Putin, which is a miracle considering the fall of the USSR and the disgrace of Yeltsin, which makes me think there are probably people out there who like Putin for rational reasons, besides owning the libs. I would love to hear your thoughts either way.
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/pollsters-perspective-the-putin-phenomenon
https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/07/02/views-of-russia-and-putin-july-24/
https://therussiaprogram.org/putins_ratings
In short, yes, millions of people in Russia and outside of Russia support Putin. It's generally speaking only relevant to ask "do you like/support Putin?" of people inside Russia, though. Outside of Russia, not even leftists should have an answer to the question of "do you like or support Putin?". It's irrelevant what my preferences are towards an individual person. My role is to analyze specific actions and events, not pass personal judgements on whole persons.
The same is true of countries. Obviously most people in Russia "like" Russia. But what the hell does that question matter outside of Russia? Like it or not, it exists. We can analyze and discuss actions and events. We can even support specific courses of action and even potential future courses of action that have implications for Russia as a state, Russians as a people, the Russian government as an organization, and the various classes in Russia, but just "do you like Russia?" is meaningless for the most part.
You are correct in your analysis that Putin has made huge accomplishments for the Russian people and that is the primary reason he has been able to maintain his position for as long as he has and why he genuinely does have more popular support than most US presidents.