Autocrats can hold power for a very long time with the asymmetric tools of oppression and control we have that are only getting more advanced with each passing version upgrade.
And the more we cut a country and its people off from the rest of the world, the easier it is for the autocrat to maintain control.
71% welcomes all sorts of isolation, sanctions. They don’t care if tomorrow all western companies shut down business in Russia. “Iran has coped, so do we”.
All currently imposed sanctions hurt neither Putin nor his “electoral base”.
Around 20% of the population in Russia are intelligent and educated people who don’t support that shit. Just because it is absolute bonkers to invade another country.
Those 20-25% are badly beaten by sanctions. And they are fleeing Russia, or trying to restructure their businesses and lives in the new distopian reality.
The majority of what is being imposed on Russia right now affects the vulnerable middle class in Russia. And they have two options: immigrate or (if immigration is not an option) shut their mouth and deal with the orwellian reality.