"In the Russian mindset, ... with phrases like "father of the nation," or a "strong hand" capable of restoring order in a vast country" "After a humiliating defeat in the Cold War and an unsuccessful democratic experiment, the Russian people, ... saw in Putin the power that they "deserved.""
"Putin has been trying to reverse Moscow's silence with the goal of restoring as many elements of Russia's former glory as he can." "This was surely not how Putin dreamed of restoring Russia's glory, a dream that is fast turning into ashes -- just as Putin has reduced ... Mariupol to ashes."