@Doctor-Phibes
I think there's also a section that seems to have admiration for Putin. I honestly don't get that at any level.
Support for Putin here exists but it is not at all noticeable unless you actually start looking for it.
Definitely there is support among adherents to Russian Orthodoxy but only to those who follow the Moscow Patriarchy or the Serbian Orthodox Church. Other Orthodox churches however openly condemn Putin and some have gone as far as declaring the Russian Patriarchy in a state of heresy over its support of the Kremlin.
Likewise there is mixed support among the post Soviet Russian diaspora. Certainly among the Russian Orthodox faithful who came here adults during the Yeltsin era but much less so among their Canadian born children. Indeed it would seem that Russians do not retain their nationalist identity as do Ukrainians from generation to generation.
There is also some level of support for Putin among non Slavs. A poll six weeks ago among the various political parties indicated that 13% of the right wing People’s Party of Canada support Putin. I personally do not think poll is accurately assessing the facts. I would suggest that 13% represents supporters who do not believe Canada should involve itself with the war or any offshore war far removed from Canada. I suspect PPC supporters are just isolationist in their outlook but nevertheless find Putin’s actions Ukraine wholly repugnant. Despite that the Party’s leader, Maxine Bernier and the overall party platform is not isolationist on the issue but more in alignment the Realist school of John Mearsheimer regarding relations with Russia. At the same time I do however agree with Aqua, that there is an element of support from that tiny minority of folks out there who just like to see power and force in politicians. Those holding that view, are of course attracted to Putin.
There is one group however that unequivocally does support Putin. These are all members of the far left. The same ones who see the Orange Revolution of 2004 and Maidan in 2013 as American backed coups. They are also convinced that Zelenskyi and his government are in the pay of the CIA. They support Putin simply because he is at war with the US, NATO and liberal democracy in general.