They were all OK with Putin because he was up there, next to the god, doing his tsar things that didn't appear to affect people down here much. He also did populist things and stoked Russian self-pride, which was a welcome development because the pride was all but destroyed during the Perestroika and what's left of it was exchanged for frozen chicken legs generously provided by the Bush administration.

In other words, he was tolerated with some approval. Not much thought was given to the trade-offs and some goodwill was assumed when these were made.

This approval is still there, but now it hinges on keeping masses fed with propaganda bullshit, to keep them believing that their fight (and suffering) is for the right cause. But when your life comforts take a nosedive, it will work only for so long.

So pulling a rug from under the unwashed gray masses is the exactly right thing to do in this situation. It's literally the only thing that could shake them off their consumerist nirvana, force to look around and realize how much they willingly exchanged in past 20 years for something that not only wasn't guaranteed, but could also be completely taken away on a very short notice.