That would be great, if Russia were not actively working on closing off its Internet as China did and for similar reasons. [1][2] The Russian firewall is being put into place now. It's obvious what they will do with it. The sole reason it's still relatively open is because the Russian state is incredibly backwards technologically, it is operated top down by very slow fiat, and so it has taken a long time for the Russian authorities to implement total Internet control within their territory. They've been working that direction for a decade.
> Also, internet access is much cheaper there than in the west.
I fail to see how that's a good point. Russia is a very poor nation, with incomes less than 1/3 the median of the EU and less than 1/6 the median of affluent Western nations. Of course their services cost a lot less than in Denmark, Sweden, Germany or the US. As one example, Romania's Internet (famous for fast speeds at low cost) costs a lot less than it does in the US as well, appropriately so, their incomes are 15%-20% that of the US. The median Russian is poorer than the median Romanian now. To adjust to US income standards for Russian Internet costs, they should not be paying more than roughly $8 to $12 per month.
[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-sovereign-internet-la...
In the same way Italians preferred Berlusconi, despite the scandals (e.g. Bunga Bunga sex parties [1])?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunga_bunga#Resurgence_in_Ital...
This is just propaganda. Another way to look at it: Putin, as a head of FSB, sabotaged Yeltsin to get into power.
No they aren't, because, among other things...
> Russians like a strong leader; for most Russian people, this is more important than democracy itself.
Which is among the reasons why they have a strong leader and not anything with more than the superficial veneer of democracy typical of most 20th Century and later authoritarian regimes
Russia's government is relatively new and people are still getting used to capitalism and democracy. I think people are still in control because they know most of the facts. People are simply more tolerant of their politicians bending the rules. Russians like a strong leader; for most Russian people, this is more important than democracy itself.