Dear individual,

You claim: "Won't happen, at least not while they're the most stable they've ever been !"

What drugs are you on?

The Russian protests which started in January are said to be the largest since the 1990s and have been going on for two months now and have seen tens of thousands arrested.

The fact of life is not all countries, and there are many Russia included, that can afford the luxury of being a liberal democracy. Not surprisingly Donald Trump held a jealous admiration for strong men like Putin, Kimmy and Xi. Unfortunately The Donald proved to be no strong man, instead he proved to be nothing more than a boofhead, and the other three were laughing at him.

SteeleRedux,
Russians are way more patriotic than the Yanks or Aussies or any others ! Why ? They have what none of the others have, thousands of years of culture ! That's how you measure the success of a nation, not by crowds of foreign indoctrinated gits causing mayhem !

There's no denying public discontent in Russia.

According to news reports "Putin's approval ratings
still appear high, but are well below their peak.
Underlying the protests are frustrations at poor
standards of living, the dismal economic situation,
worsened by low oil prices and the pandemic, as well
as resentment at corruption and other political abuses."

We're told that "in many places local issues have
fused with wider complaints."

Then of course there's Mr Navalny who Russian
officials are portraying as a Western stooge even
though he's been careful to distance himself
from foreign governments.

Mr Putin's real problem according to news sources
is not his jailed opponent but the Russian people whose
dissatisfaction he harnesses. And their daily experiences
do as much to erode the Kremlin's authority.

While the president may prefer to ignore it - there's no
denying the current public discontent.

Will Russia ever become a democracy?

Is another question that needs to be asked.

Russia is huge. It's history is complex. And
it has not had democratic traditions. So
where its future lies is difficult to
predict.

I'd like to see someone try.

Vying for the undeserved is a very shaky base indeed to ruin common values !