Do Russians support Putin’s war?

Everyone is calling the conflict in Ukraine Putin’s war and insisting that it has nothing to do with the Russians themselves.

The nightmare would end – they tell us – if only Vladimir Putin were to disappear in a coup. They used to say the same thing not only about Adolf Hitler but also Benito Mussolini. Yet both the Fuhrer and the Duce would have been as powerless as the speakers at Hyde Park Corner if they had not enjoyed the willing consent of a critical mass of Germans and Italians.

Meanwhile devout Catholics like my Italian wife recite Psalm 109 – the one used to curse the outstandingly evil for whom forgiveness is not required – and which urges the Lord to assassinate Putin asap and to ‘Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand.’

In my view, however, she is wasting her time if she stops at Putin.