The bases of Putin's popularity
Pussy Riot have garnered international support, but ordinary Russians have been less sympathetic. Pussy Riot’s “Punk Prayer” criticised the close political relationship of President Putin and the head of the Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, in what is supposed still to be a secular state. The state grants a role for the Orthodox church — along with the other “traditional” religions of Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. It suits the state to manage relationships with a few faiths. The Orthodox church guards its position against other Christian denominations. It is the Russian nature of the church...