A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll showed that Russians who rely on state TV for their news think significantly more highly of President Vladimir Putin than those who tap other news sources.
The ruble’s fall, the plunge in world oil prices and the sanctions’ denial of access to Western credit have all dealt a blow to the Russian economy.
In his televised New Year’s Eve message to the nation, Putin hailed the annexation of Crimea as a historic achievement and the rightful return of the peninsula’s people to the bosom of Russia.
In the offices of Russia’s opposition groups, …read more
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
