The height of Putins popularity was during crisis particularly Chechnya war which made him the President ,Crimea rejoining Russia and when he decided to participate in Syrian war.
Putins popularity was lowest when Russias economy was growing enormously .
Pundit sometimes its better to shut up than yap things you dont know about.
Russian mentality is different .
Upuzi , politics is not about economy alone. Putins highest popularity was when Crimea rejoined Russia in 2014 , was that economy when they Russian economy was being sanctioned left and right ?
Under Putin leadership the economy grew from 200B to 2.5 trillion in 15yrs thanks to minning n oil bonanza..this made Putin insanely popular...now it's tanked to 1.5 trillion..add unwinnable war with Ukraine
Russia is already big..adding tiny pieces to it wont matter.Putin popularity was his economic miracles but it dead now....he will become unpopular n that before the body bags are counted from Ukraine