Outlaw and others,
don't underestimate the power of ideology and narrative.

I've seen how quite normal Russia-friendly people turned 150% pro-Kremlin during the Ukraine crisis. This happens when they access the official Russian view of events and buy into it.


I've also observed that conservatives and right wingers tend to fall for Putin's 'charm'. He's a de facto autocrat and they like it. He's homophobic and they're homophobes, too. He decries Western culture, decadence et cetera - they do too. Natural allies.

There are certainly a couple paid online propagandists, but they're merely the seeds. Putin understood how to trigger certain demographics into supporting him and some true believers are indistinguishable from the paid seeds.

You Americans know the 'talking point' culture well; the Putin regime uses the same approach.
And to the American right wingers: The Putin true believers - they sound to us like Fox News true believers sound to liberals and foreigners. Think about that.