I loved Putin

The New Times talked with those who until the last believed his president

The data of sociological services show that all indices and ratings reflecting the attitude of the population towards Vladimir Putin have been declining for several months. Thus, the Putin*approval index*, according to the “Levada Center”, amounted to 31 points in February, while in May 2012 it was 40, and in the pre-crisis of September 2008-78 points. The electoral rating **, according to the FOM, fell in early March to 43% (55% in May 2012 and 62% in December 2007). At the same time, the number of the current president dissatisfied with the work of the current president increased markedly: in February, according to the Levada Center, there were already 34%-compared to 30% last May and 10% in September 2008. Why is Putin are now losing voters?

"He will no longer turn the country's steering wheel to a bright future"

Sergey Belanovsky, 60 years old, research director of the Center for Strategic Development, Moscow

Putin, still as a prime minister, in one of the speeches, analyzing the beginning of the First Chechen War, expressed a thought that bribed me very much: "Not all peaceful means were exhausted at that moment." I completely agree with this and believe that it was one of the worst Yeltsin mistakes to untie the war, when the elementary replacement of passports could stabilize the situation.

Moreover, I did not escape the illusion that many were shared at that time: I believed that as a native of the KGB Putin, a person is very informed, because a lot of closed information came to him. I believed that such awareness would help the president in the successful management of the country.

Now we see that the work in the KGB, despite the knowledge that this structure gives, is rather obscuring reality than helps to understand it, and forms life in some illusory world, and this mythology is very aggressive and this is dangerous.

Nevertheless, I remained a supporter of Putin for a very long time: I believed that although there are many complaints to the authorities, but we simply do not have any other team that would be better. The confidence that Putin needs to be supported and vote for power was shaken in September 2011, when this dishonest story happened with the screaming of the tandem.

But the final point was set by the “furious printer” - our State Duma. The printer has lost its imputity with its inappropriate aggression towards America. This impossible, asymmetric response to the “List of Magnitsky” - “Law of Dima Yakovlev” horrified. You cannot make such laws a political answer.

It is difficult for me to believe it, but informed people say that Putin wants to go to the polls again, after 2018. It can be seen that the president and purely physically handed over. Sixty years is a certain line for a high rank manager. There are biological laws that you will not jump. Putin has lost its flexibility, he will not be able to turn the country's steering wheel into some kind of constructive side for her “to a bright future”.

"I'm no longer waiting for good news"

Boris Shevchenko, 34 years old, advertising manager, Kaluga

I was one of the activists of the “Walking Together” movement* - it was so free, fun, in 2000 we even went to Moscow to hold actions in support of the president, congratulated him on the inauguration - huge hopes were hoped for him. Last year, I sympathized with the president: I thought that tightening the regime is because he was fighting for order in the country. But after Pussy Riot was simply put for anything, Putin forever lost his human face in my eyes.

The content of these girls is in custody and especially the sentence, despite the fact that they have young children, is against all morality.

People who rob, for example, our former Minister Serdyukov or some of his friends there-walk along the streets and eat at large. And those who simply express their opinions are put in jail. Double standards are visible in everything. I myself once sat in a temporary detention center: the policeman just wanted to mock, he detained me because I looked like someone, although I had documents.

These are all obvious signs of totalitarianism.

A year ago, I talked with Vasya Yakemenko, with whom we used to be friends. Normal, by the way, a guy, even he even realized that he was not shining under Putin, he became out of work, now he was engaged in everything for some projects: at first he organized a party, then some kind of bakery. Even such as Yakemenko, people devoted to Putin, suffered disappointment.

In general, I realized that Putin is “not for people”, he is as a manager: someone hired him to defend his interests. I think he was initially normal, but the oligarchs who are behind him make him make decisions not in the interests of the people. In addition, he probably still deteriorated a little: he fell in love with the authorities and is afraid to lose it. I would not want such a wonderful person as Putin to suffer the same fate as Saddam Hussein or Gaddafi. But so far the prospect is seen just that.

I wrote a song on what is happening here, I think she will best express my feelings.

It is difficult to breathe

Bummer, ban, ambush ...

Each lice

Teaches - as it should!

Everyday dirt

Corrodes to bones ...

And I'm not waiting

Good news.

And only one comfort

In our Bl ** country -

That someone for some reason

Worse than me.

Cold calculation

Convenient truth.

I am doomed -

But who needs it?

This is life in the system

Distorted planes ...

"Putin psychologically passes"

Vadim Briashvili, 30 years old, historian, Veliky Novgorod

When Putin came to power, I was 18 years old, I looked at a lot very naively. I am ashamed to remember now, but then I considered him a savior of Russia from collapse and degradation. Sober, strong, strong -willed. He seemed like a Stirlitz, whom we love so much. I even saw the studies that were conducted in the late 90s: what should the president be, in whose image and likeness. Stirlitz won in this study. Here political technologists offered us this Stirlitz. A person from the KGB, Patriot, Sovereigns. Russian, such a real man, does not climb into his pocket for a word, hard. Remember this famous "to wet in the toilet." I liked it so much then, I thought: this is what a well done.

Since 2005, my thoughts began to appear that something was going wrong in the country. From the TV they said that the stables of the 90s would be raked. But at the same time, I saw that in our Veliky Novgorod both under Yeltsin and Putin, the criminal group of Kravchenko and Mkhitaryan continues to rule - this is such a Novgorod Chicago. Until 2007, there were brutal demonstration murders, executions in the city center: for example, they blew up a Moscow real estate agency, defeated the Eldorado store and killed its directors.

The second serious moment for me was the events on Manezhnaya Square in 2010: I noticed that the authorities launched a national issue. The new surge of doubts was at the end of 2011, when the authorities won the elections, poorly washing the brain through the TV, and she had to go to frank falsification.

Finally, I was disappointed in Putin recently, when I realized that he could not cope with discontent in society using technology and have to use a power resource. They began to twist the nuts: repressive laws adopt, for example, tight -fitting fines for rallies, or here are the “Law of Dima Yakovlev” - the answer to the “Act of Magnitsky”. This shows that the authorities are losing control.

Putin and psychologically passes, it is felt. Remember how he cried after his victory in the presidential election - I think it was from nervous tension.

"This trout from judo stopped working for me"

Anton Plushenko, 29 years old, engineer-builder, Moscow

I have not liked much in the country for a long time, but Putin-with such charisma, beautiful, strong, real alpha male-I liked it. In 2003, I even joined the United Russia party.

Our president is a judoka, and he uses the principles of judo in a political struggle: when an enemy attacks you, you turn his strength to your benefit, direct his movement along the right vector, and the enemy falls under his own weight. Until recently, Putin managed to recoup in this way in my eyes every time I began to doubt it.

I was on the first swamp and immediately disappointed in the protest, after I saw that the people there were trampled there, shouted: “We will definitely come again” and parted. After the first rallies, Putin constantly proved that the enemies of the society, which the State Department, are gathering there, political impotent. And I partially believed him. But he began to annoy me: he did not go closer to the protesters as a normal leader in the country, but called them gandons. So he showed that he considers people slaves. Pseudopatriotic rhetoric also began to enrage him - he recently privatized the entire patriotic movement. I always celebrated Victory Day, but now it turns out: who does not vote for Putin, he does not like veterans.

But the main thing is that at least he convinced me then, after Bolotnaya, and the questions remained. Well, let Navalny - an employee of the State Department. But who will answer me all his revelations in a living magazine - about crazy public procurements and apartments of deputies? Yes, if he was at least three times an American spy - who will answer in fact?

I used to always believe that the president and his team are doing everything well, but there are people who interfere with this: wandered officials, non -constructive opposition. Now I realized that they are not doing anything. Why do you say that some goat like Serdyukov is to blame for everything if this goat himself put this position and put it? It turns out that you are a bad leader and should leave.

Well, the last straw for me was the law on education - how can everything be spoiled like that? I realized that the top of the authorities are temporary workers, they do not care about what will happen after them. And Putin, like any temporary man, only practices temporary handouts, and he makes them to certain events, for example, to the elections.

My friends, who serve in the army and police, began to receive a lot of money. If you say about it on TV, everyone will believe that life has become better. But my brother lives in the village, ardent Putinist. I told him: "How do you support Putin if Azerbaijanis beat you in your native village?" And he replies: "We were given a subsidy for a young family to build a house." No one thinks that you need to do it so that the young family will earn a house for itself - you look at the vacancies for youth in the regions: there is nothing but work in network supermarkets.

I think that with such a policy, Putin may well export the indigenous population with drugs and alcohol and the territory of Russia to populate citizens from the former Asian Union republics - these will be the same consumers and taxpayers. What difference does it make to him - he is temporarily here.

And this trick from judo stopped working for me: no matter how much say that the protesters are enemies and the West even worse, the people still begin to notice what is happening around.

"I began to annoy me the cruelty of the president"

Alexey Timonov, 16 years old, student of construction college, Ryazan

For me, Putin’s image was always bright - this is such a supreme commander, who lifts the country from the knees after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I have never seen another worthy candidate in his place. For me, this man made enough for me to live comfortably, even in such horseradish conditions as now.

I became the fate of the president to be interested in three years ago, after I started sitting on social networks, and noticed that people write a lot of bad things about Putin. I didn't like it.

But then I had a difficult moment with Putin: when Ksenia Sobchak had searches last year, when Navalny had some problems with criminal cases-at one point it began to strain it all. Some spontaneous sense of injustice arose: they brazenly broke into people into the house. I began to annoy the cruelty of the president, his bright image faded. In this state, I lived for about six months. Now I managed to somehow overcome this in myself: I began to think more rationally. Mom helped me in this sense: she said that this is just his work, the matter that he is obliged to do, and that he made such a rational decision, otherwise these rallies would not have stopped at all. I would really not want to be disappointed in Putin. I try to believe that he does not only want to stay a lot of money, but really help the country.

Photos: Diana Vinogradova, Evgeny Feldman, Oleg Borodyaev, from the personal page of VKontakte