The Star Tribune quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John Herbst on Russian popular opinion of Putin and the conflict in Ukraine:

John E. Herbst, director of the Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council and former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, sees similar dynamics. Speaking from Paris, he said, “In part because of [Putin’s] control of the media, which he has turned into a propaganda mechanism, his popularity remains high.” (Russia ranked 152 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, released this week.) But Herbst adds that “the war he’s conducting in Ukraine’s east is a problem for him at home. … The people of Russia have indicated through numerous polls that they don’t want to see the Russian Army fighting in Ukraine.”

Read the full article here.

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