This question about Putin’s regime has always fascinated me

And I don’t know the answer. I never will, probably.

Though I’ve been away from Russia for almost a decade, I know the country well. I experienced it intimately across decades, despite my frequent stretches in the West for education and work. I know well how the country has evolved under Putin. I know its people from its different generations, from vastly different walks of life. Pro-Putin, anti-Putin, the ones who had been exposed to the West — for education, work or travel, and the ones who’ve never traveled outside of the…