Eliot Borenstein, Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies at New York University, explained this phenomenon. "In many ways, US and European sanctions were a gift to Putin, since they allowed any decline in the economy to be chalked up to the work of Russia's enemies," he told Al Jazeera in a phone interview. "Moreover, this facilitates the feeling that coping with economic difficulties is a matter of patriotism."
The government's appeal to Russian's patriotic sentiments seems to have been effective in keeping general dissatisfaction among the populace at bay.
Many Russians have braced themselves for a long economic recession. Yet, there are some, like Irina, who are not willing to accept the consequences of the Kremlin's militaristic rhetoric. [...]
Local media commented that the economic crisis, along with a higher alcohol tax, pushed more Russians to use illegally made alcohol and alcohol products. Over the past two years, poverty has reportedly been growing in the Irkutsk region, spreading to more than 21 percent of the population, while the real value of salaries has fallen by more than 10 percent. [...]
"The rise of anti-Russian protests in the Middle East after the capturing of Aleppo, at the backdrop of which ambassador Andrei Karlov was assassinated, shows that while Russia was regaining its influence in the region, it also took away from the US the status of 'main imperialistic enemy'," wrote Vladimir Frolov, a Russian political analyst.
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