I am very surprised how little Americans know about Putin and Russia

I think Americans really have no idea who Putin is. This is from most articles I have seen on him here in the U.S.

I think he is a much different person than we see in the news for example. One could call this a form of brainwashing in the U.S. or just reflecting the general ignorance of how the news is reported worldwide by various different nations. So, what we hear isn't the way people in other countries view Putin. Some countries see him in all sorts of different ways. So, the American bias regarding Putin is uniquely American and because of the general ignorance of how important he is generally speaking to the Russian people. To them, everything after the Soviet Union Collapsed was hell.

So, to the Russian people he is an alternative to Hell.

So, understanding this we all worldwide can better understand his popularity in Russia if nothing else.