The fundamental cognitive mistake in the perception of Russia is that we do not want to see it as it is in reality, but as we want it to be. The announcement by Putin of the decree on the alleged partial mobilisation, which is the consequence of Ukrainian controversy, has caused euphoria among many commentators. They estimated that this could trigger violent protests in Russia and lead to Putin's fall. But if we look at their scale, they're rachitic. Yes, the number of detainees is large, in turn erstwhile it comes to attendance, - according to data provided by, among others, the Russian opposition portal Medusa.io - in Moscow, where the largest demonstration took place, its participants were little than a 1000 people. More than a 100 protesters seldom appeared in another cities. They cannot even be compared to protests after the Navalny case, where the number of demonstrators across Russia was estimated at nearly 100,000.
