Vladimir Putin Photographer: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP/Getty Images
Vladimir Putin Photographer: Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP/Getty Images

Andreas Kluth: What motivates Putin and his followers is resentment

It’s this mental universe of bitterness and grievance that makes Putin and his Russian supporters uninterested in nurturing productive relationships with other countries.
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By Andreas Kluth

One of the most powerful human motivations is resentment. If you've ever been humiliated, you may bear the grudge forever. It may shape your interactions with others in daily life, as well as your politics and worldview. That would explain a lot about Russians in the era of the Ukraine War — and even more about their president, Vladimir Putin. 

That, at least, is the thesis of Grigory Yudin, a Russian sociologist who was one of the few to predict Putin's unprovoked attack against Ukraine in February of 2022. As Yudin sees it, many Russians connect with their leader at a psychological level because both wallow in "resentment — monstrous, endless resentment."

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