Some balance possibly:
if you've spent time in Russia, you will realise, actually, they are all about rampant materialism. They want what the west has and more. Implying otherwise is wrong. The whole system of oligarchs in Russia is about showing the west how much better and more developed they are than the west.
Putin haters hate Putin because he is a beligerent bully, who believes Russia should reform the soviet union. Putin's "sphere of influence" rhetoric is all about a new union. Hence, the Uzbeks (where i lived for 3 years) and the Khazaks are nervous - they are in the firing line.
Russia believes its day will come, but in reality, this is unlikely - since the fall of the soviet union, Russia's population has droped by 100 million people, its economic power has dropped by a third and its military, with many outdated machines, has decreased by over a third. With an average wage of about 6000USD, and little to offer the world except oil and gas, China (where is currently live) is the real power in Asia and far eclipses Russia.
Why do the people support Putin? well, the state run media runs only pro putin stories, manipulates the truth - anyone who thinks the Ukrainians shot dow the plane is just plain wrong and buying into the same Russian garbage as the russian people. If you only ever get told your government is correct, you believe it - look at north korea for example.
Putin is a dangerous and destabilising global player, and russia uses its veto power in the SC to make sure it gets what it wants. Make no mistake though, in a stand up war, with any of the other powers, russia gets smashed. Thinking china will intervene on russia's behalf is just stupid - it will never happen. China is too smart for that - all it really wants is the resource rich parts of siberia directly bordering the northern areas of china, an area Russia really can't defend. Hence the 30 million chinese relocating to the area in the last 5 years.
don't be a putin nut hugger. he's a bad cat.
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