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There are massive protests erupting in Russia. A huge crowd of demonstrators formed in St. Petersburg.
It appears that President Vladimir Putin may have overplayed his hand by invading Ukraine. There is very strong opposition to the war growing in Russia, according to experts.
In response, Russia has arrested more than 1,700 demonstrators in Russia protesting the unprovoked attack on Ukraine have been arrested, according to OVD Info, a Russian human rights organization. Take a look at the video:
Look at the size of anti-war protestors in St Petersburg, Russia. Wow pic.twitter.com/dHg9Uwt9RQ
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 24, 2022
“This is a massive miscalculation,” said University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor Yoshiko Herrera, who is an expert on U.S-Russian relations.
“This action yesterday was just another level of crazy. It’s a ruination of Russia for decades, so damaging for Ukraine and so costly all around.”
“The people who are taking to the streets know that they will likely end up in jail,” she told Fox News. “My view is this is going to be an extremely unpopular war in Russia even for people who are pro-Putin.”
Putin’s approval rating of 69% in January is quickly declining, according to experts.
U.S. Army Gen. Jack Keane says Putin’s obvious objective is to take the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and install a pro-Russian government.
However, the only way for Putin to control Ukraine, a country of 40 million, is through “massive, Stalinesque repression.”
“If Putin fails, if he is forced to retreat, then he is finished,” said Valery Dzutsati, an assistant professor at the University of Kansas and an expert on Russia. “He will be deposed very quickly.”
“If Ukraine is a flourishing democracy, it is a very bad example for Russia,” he said. Putin is threatened by social revolution, and Ukraine has a history of ousting unpopular regimes, he added.
There is also a large segment of the Russian population that is nostalgic for the USSR and will celebrate bringing Ukraine back into the fold of the Motherland.
More on this story via Fox News:
Historically, Russia and Ukraine don’t have a level of hostility that would justify this violent incursion. Ukraine has elected pro-Russian leaders, and the two countries consider themselves more like brothers than enemies, Herrera said.
— Advertisement — “There is a lot of interethnic hospitality,” the scholar explained. “Images of Ukrainian families, Ukrainians being killed, your average Russian family is not going to be okay with that.”
Since the attack began Wednesday, more than 57 people have been killed and 169 wounded. In addition to sanctions, there is significant social fallout over the invasion, with Aeroflot Airlines banned from flying to the U.K., and the Union of European Football Associations pulling the Champions League final from Saint Petersburg.
Herrera said that Putin’s decision is even “more mind-boggling” considering he essentially had a victory after the incursion into the Donbas region, where separatists and Ukrainians have been fighting for eight years.
He recognized the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics on Monday and dispatched troops there that he euphemistically referred to as “peacekeepers.”
“As of last week, he had already achieved a lot of his goals getting everyone to pause on letting Ukraine join NATO,” said Herrera, referring to the U.S.-led NATO, an intergovernmental military alliance intended to guarantee its members’ security.
