Do the Russian people really consider Putin as a hero?

Vladimir Putin has served as the president of Russia for almost 20 years. Currently, his approval rating is 65% which means 65% of Russians approve of his work. Take a look at this graph. It shows his approval ratings ever since he took office. We can see that his ratings never dipped below 60%. In fact, in June 2015 they were as high as 89%. Now, lets compare this to Joe Biden. His approval rating on American people is currently 43%. In fact, his approval ratings have never been higher than 60%.

vladimir putin approval rating, statistia

Putin was named the person of the year by time magazine In 2007 . Forbes named him the World's Most Powerful Individual each year from 2013 to 2016. They have picture t-shirts, appear frequently in video games, and murals can be found all over Russia. Critics state that Putin has moved Russia in an autocratic direction, weakening the system of representative government advocated by the previous president. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has described him as a bully and arrogant. According to the West, he is public enemy number one snatching land from its neighbours, interfering in foreign elections and exposing the weapons that Washington says are influencing missile defense systems

Putin develops an image of an open-air, sporty, tough guy who displays her physical prowess. he takes part in unusual or dangerous acts, such as extreme sports and interaction with wild animals. Russia has faced a decline in democracy during Putin's tenure. Putin has been known for jailing political opponents and curtailing freedom of the press. Dozens of journalists who spoke against Putin have been murdered. Putin's presidency has been riddled with corruption. Since taking office, his office has allegedly poured millions of dollars into presidential benefits. In fact roughly 1/3rd of Russias budged is believed to go to public officials who collect significantly more bribes now than they did before Putin. So why do so many Russians love Putin? and do the Russian people really consider Putin as a hero?

fall of soviet union, youtube

In December 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Russian tricolor flag was raised over the Kremlin. Putin became Acting President of the Russian Federation on 31st December 1999. When Putin first became Russian president, he didn’t look like the promising hero material. Before becoming the president Putin was a mid level officer in the Russian intelligence agency KGB. The Kremlin public relations machine quickly seized on Putin’s hobby of judo, his interest in outdoor pursuits and his avoidance of alcohol to craft an action man image for the new president. The emphasis on Putin the athlete and outdoorsman quickly developed a distinctly macho dimension, with the president increasingly displaying exaggerated masculine traits and frequently appearing in photographs without his shirt.

National hero figures fill a society's need for guidance and reassurance during times of transition. We saw this vividly in South Africa at the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela. Putin's heroic leadership, on the contrary, is based on his ability to make bold demands and take decisive action in the interests of his country. Especially at the beginning of his presidency, the emphasis on his physical strength contrasted dramatically with his ailing predecessor Yeltsin, who was considered by many Russians to preside over their country's decline.

He has since changed to both prime minister and president of Russia, and has become the representative of the Russian economy seeking to attract foreign direct investment, Support various industries and exploit Russia's natural resources, especially the country's abundance of oil and gas. During Putin's first two terms as president, he signed into law a series of liberal economic reforms, such as the flat income tax of 13 per cent, reduced profits-tax and new land and civil codes. Poverty in Russia decreased by more than half during this period.

GDP per capita russia, macrotrends

In two years, Putin restored the hierarchy of power, ending the omnipotence of regional elites as well as destroying the political influence of oligarchs. Let's take a look at Russias gdp per capita since Putin took charge. It was 7323 dollars in the year 2000 and in 2020 it rose to 28,219 dollars. Today Russia’s gdp is 1.7 trillion dollars which makes it the country with the 11th highest gdp in the world. Now take a look at this chart of Russias inflation rate. In 1999, it was more than 85% whereas today it is around 5%.

inflation rate in russia by years 1996-2026*, statistia

The Russian unemployment rate has also plummeted ever since Putin took charge. The number of people attending university rose 50 percent between 2000 and 2010. Putin brought prosperity to an unstable and relatively poor Russia. Between 2000 and 2008, the Russian middle class increased from just 8 million people to 55 million people. All of these miraculous changes happened mostly due to the astronomical rise in oil prices in the early 2000s and Russia’s increased export of oil and minerals to other countries.

russia unemployment graph, statistia

An entire generation of young Russians has never seen anyone in power except Putin. For Russians Putin represents economic growth and stability in return for a limited democracy which can easily be likened to a mild dictatorship. The system that Vladimir Putin has put in place makes sure that he gets to rule Russia for as long as he is alive and any opposition like Alexei Navalny becomes nothing but a victim of this system. As Moscow asserts itself on the world stage with more confidence, Putin's commanding presence symbolizes Russia's return to great power status.

Would Russia have been taken so seriously if it had been ruled by someone else? Probably not. In fact the first image that comes to our mind when Russia is mentioned is that of Vladimir Putin. The feeling around Russia is clear: Russia is Putin and Putin is Russia. Recent opinion polls show a decline in Putin's popularity, which has been attributed to dissatisfaction with the government's economic policies and living standards. Multiple financial sanctions have been imposed on the country by the west following its annexation of Crimea which has depressed Russian economic growth by 1-1.5 percentage points each year Oil prices are falling globally as demand weakens and Russia's economy is heavily reliant on oil. Since 2009, the Russian economy has been in recession with an average annual growth of 1%.

The corruption under Putin’s regime has skyrocketed. The country ranks 136 on the corruption perception scale, even below Pakistan and Putin undoubtedly h as amassed a massive wealth on the back of this corruption. Right now he is adamant about annexing Ukraine despite multiple warnings from the west. It will be interesting to see if this event causes the fall of all-powerful Vladimir Putin.