Yes, I've seen the polls that say that Putin and Russia are viewed "less favorably" than they were prior to the crisis in Ukraine. In fact, here's a clip from a recent PEW survey which seems to prove that I'm wrong:
"Across the 44 countries surveyed, a median percentage of 43% have unfavorable opinions of Russia, compared with 34% who are positive.These results strongly suggest that the public blames Moscow for the fighting in Ukraine and (presumably) agrees with the prevailing storyline that Putin is a vicious aggressor who seized Crimea in order to rebuild the Soviet Empire. The problem with the PEW survey is that the results are based random samples of nationwide face-to-face or telephone interviews.
Negative ratings of Russia have increased significantly since 2013 in 20 of the 36 countries surveyed...
Americans and Europeans in particular have soured on Russia over the past 12 months. More than six-in-ten in Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the U.S. and the UK have an unfavorable image of Russia. And in all but one of these countries negative reviews are up by double digits since last year, including by 29 percentage points in the U.S., 27 points in Poland, 24 points in the UK and 23 points in Spain." (Russia's Global Image Negative amid Crisis in Ukraine: Americans' and Europeans' Views Sour Dramatically, PEW Research)
Why is that a problem?
Comment: It's heartening to know that people are seeing through the anti-Putin bullshit that's everywhere these days. For people with a conscience, it's hard not to feel responsible for the dirt and slime thrown at Putin daily. So show your support: comment, write, talk. Show the lying bastards we're not going to take it anymore. And if you feel like we do, take a moment to show your support for what Putin's doing by signing: Dear Putin.