John Pilger- "The West is mystified that Vladimir Putin has a 90% approval rating"

Australian Journalist John Pilger is Julian Assange's mentor.

John Pilger: The Great Critic of Privilege, Power & Empire
Legendary Australian journalist and documentary filmmaker

John Pilger: Putin is popular because he restored Russia from chaos and won back its independence.

This is unacceptable to the Western elites It mystifies many people in the West why Putin is so popular.

He has a rating, apparently, of reaching up to 90%. Hardly anyone can match it. And the reason I think he is popular is that he restored Russia from the chaos and almost the destruction of the Yeltsin years. Now, that independence of Russia is intolerable, for me, that's almost the litmus test of enemies, imperial enemies. Any real independence, even a semblance of independence, is. And to have an independent Russia again, having restored its military industrial complex, certainly its military, into, once again, a highly sophisticated machine. So it's not only an independent power, it's one that could defend itself. That's unacceptable.