Russian President Putin's Political Base Is Deserting Him As Economic Woes Continue

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Jan. 15. (Ivan Sekretarev/Reuters)

Washington Times: Russian truckers protest road tax as Putin’s base defects amid economic woes

MOSCOW — Svetlana Titova, a 29-year-old real estate agent from Moscow, used to consider herself one of the success stories of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long rule.

But as Russia’s economy buckles under the combined weight of Western sanctions and tumbling global prices for oil, the linchpin of the country’s economy, Ms. Titova and millions of Russians like her who once strongly backed Mr. Putin are feeling the strain.

“I used to have plenty of money to spare at the end of the month,” Ms. Titova told The Washington Times. “But now I’m struggling to make it from one payday to the next.”

While Ms. Titova was reluctant to attribute blame for her financial difficulties, Russia’s deepening economic woes are stirring up discontent even among Mr. Putin’s traditional supporters, who had kept his personal popularity sky-high despite the economy’s woes and sharp criticism of his rule from the Obama administration and many in Europe.

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WNU Editor: Yup .... as regular readers of this blog have known for the past few months .... Putin's popularity in Russia is not what it use to be, and it all comes down to economics and the decline in everyone's standard of living. My prediction also still holds ..... the Russian economy is going to be Putin's priority for 2016, because he knows that if things do not change by this time next year, demonstrations and unrest will be the norm in places like Moscow. As to the question .... will he succeed? The Russian government/PM Medvedev are debating on what policies and strategies should be employed. We should know in the coming weeks on what they will do.

WNU Editor Update: I have been saying the same thing for the past few years .... Putin’s self-destructing economy (Vladislav Inozemtsev, Washington Post). And while this assessment is "dark and pessimistic" .... what gives me hope is that the Russian leadership do know that they have a problem, and their focus will be on how to energize this economy .... primarily focusing on the growth and creation of small businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs to "take a chance". If that is their mindset .... they will succeed. But if they focus on tax increases, big projects, and borrowing money to finance "infrastructure projects" and other popular government measures .... they will fail.