A month since the war started: scattered thoughts and observations

I continue to stay perplexed about the level of support for the war in Russia. I’m not in Russia, haven’t been for almost nine years but have friends and relatives and the anecdotal evidence points to this conclusion: most Russians support the war. Of course, I understand there is propaganda but I am still surprised about the degree of this support. Majority. Many of my own relatives and friends are in the pro-war camp. Some are vocal, some prefer not to debate but their position is clear.

While I could expect some of my connections or connections of connections to be pro-Putin, pro-war for whatever reason (their age group, their background, their level of education, their previous political views), there were some whose position came as a total surprise. I tried to understand if there is a pattern — there isn’t any. It’s unpredictable. You can have someone relatively young, who was educated in the West, who’s well-traveled and never displayed any anti-West sentiment, rejoice at and feel proud about Russia’s “military operation”. On the other hand, you can have a middle-aged doctor in Moscow who you’d expect to be exposed to a lot of propaganda on Russian TV fume over Russia’s aggression. Unpredictable. There is one particular “black box” that’s that to me — a black box. While I have a good feel for the older generation (my parents, 60+) and my generation (40+), I’ve had no interactions with millennials and Gen X. I think I got these terms right — basically, the younger generation, who’s in the…