Since the Ukraine crisis erupted, there has been a sharp contrast between how Russian President Vladimir Putin is perceived in the West and at home.

Russian President Vladimir Putin [Photo/Xinhua]

While policymakers and media commentators in the West have been very vocal in denouncing Putin's action in Ukraine, he has actually enjoyed an unprecedented popularity among Russians.

The latest figures on Putin's popularity came from the Levada Center, an independent and respected polling agency whose leadership has a contentious history with the government and thus has no incentive to fabricate Putin's approval ratings to bolster the public image of the Kremlin.

Russia's annexation of Crimea last year contributed to the skyrocketing of Putin's approval rating to 89 percent, up 24 percent from the 65 percent approval rating before the crisis and even higher than the 88 percent in 2008, shortly after victory in the Russo-Georgian War.

While most Russians express solid support for Putin, there has been an absence of trust for the Russian political system outside of Putin, with 69 percent of them trying to have minimal interaction with the government and 47 percent claiming not to feel protected by the law.

Russians do not hold Putin accountable for the negative effects Western sanctions inflict on them. Nearly half of Russians say the sanctions are intended not only to cripple elite circles, but also to punish ordinary Russians. Many thus regard the sanctions as assaults on them and their families, in addition to being an attack on their country.

With 66 percent of Russians believing that Western sanctions are meant to "weaken and humiliate" Russia, many have rallied around the flag and embraced Putin as a "father protector" defending the country against foreign onslaughts. Instead of blaming Putin for their economic woes, many Russians blame the West.

On the Ukraine issue, even some opposition members support Putin. Several prominent opposition leaders have spoken up in favor of the current policy towards Ukraine, and in certain cases urged Russia to go beyond.

Sergei Udaltsov, a key firebrand during the 2011 mass anti-Putin protests who was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for his role in those protests, celebrated the result of the Crimean referendum, proclaiming, "I am a Soviet patriot, and consider the destruction of the USSR a great mistake and crime, so I regard the return of Crimea as a small but important step towards the rebirth of an updated Union."

Likewise, Eduard Limonov, a longtime Putin foe who has spent time in jail for his political activities, called not only for military intervention in eastern Ukraine, but also for the Black Sea Fleet to be sent to Odessa, the third largest city in Ukraine.

Within such a context, "even if the West succeeds in further weakening Putin economically, it may end up strengthening his position domestically," Dimitri Simes Jr., staff member of the Center for the National Interest of the United States, said in an article.

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