I had this with my cousin yesterday. I said that you could take Putin out of the picture and Russians would still believe in their righteousness [eg. 1st Chechen war was initiated by Yeltsin] . She disagreed and said "they are all brainwashed". Then I asked her - how can we be so sure that we are right? She became defensive and angry towards me. With these two closed mind-sets you have no possibility for resolution. You cannot wish Putin away, you cannot wish Russia away - but this is where she was coming from. This is a psychological precondition for a larger conflict. Disturbing.