This is our history, people are used to it

21

• "For our whole lives, our people had this anthem"; "the past is reflected in it"; "many people remember this music"; "2/3 of the population grew up from a baby with this anthem"; "all people are used to this music"; "you cannot cross out history"; "that is the old one, and we got used to it"; "it accompanied us through our whole lives"; "that period of life cannot be taken from the life of the older generation», "a lot is connected with the music by Alexandrov"; "very many events are connected with this music"; "the greater part of the population has lived their lives with it, and it is important for them – nothing better can be made up, it is inspiring"; "it is familiar to the majority of Russians"; "it is the tradition, because people lived with this anthem"; "Russia's history is connected with this anthem".

This is the anthem of a great state

2

• "Very many victories are connected with this anthem"; "it is the anthem of the winners"; "we won the war with this anthem, we mustn't throw out history"; "Russia became a great state with this anthem"; "the victory of our people in the war with this anthem is a memory"; "our country was a great state with this anthem"; "under this anthem, we defended the whole of Russia"; "this anthem causes respect in the world"; "they recognized our country as a great state only with this anthem".

For the continuity of generations

2

• "The continuity of generations"; "it is needed to connect the symbols of all generations"; "there should be continuity in the state symbols"; "there should be continuity"; "for the connection of times"; "it unites both historical epochs"; "to unite all the generations in Russia"; «there should be a connection of the generations".

Putin wants to return to the Soviet Union

1

• "He wants to bring back the Soviet Union"; "he is sad about the collapse of the Union"; "he is a supporter of the past state system"; "this anthem used to join all the nations of the USSR, and Putin is for a reunion"; "a return to the Union, it all goes to that"; "that is a step to return to the Union – maybe we'll return to the united family"; "he wants to have the USSR again"; "to unite everybody as before, into the Union".

• "A melody of genius "; "this melody is the most expressive, a real anthem"; "when it plays, pride and a movement in the soul arises"; "this music is worthy for the anthem"; "it is a festive and patriotic tune, but the music by Glinka doesn't sound good, I cannot sing it, although I have a good musical ear; Putin sees the music by Alexandrov is good music"; "there is nothing better than it, it symbolizes everything, it touches the soul, you shiver from it"; "the most worthy music"; "infusing and patriotic, easy to play"; "festive, majestic music, an anthem like it should be, you cannot stay seated when it plays"; "when it is played, all the veins shiver"; "the melody is understandable for the whole nation"; "this music is very good for an anthem"; "when I hear the anthem, I shiver, there is no better music"; "nothing better has been offered in the last 10 years"; "Russia should have exactly such an anthem".

Putin supported it as a compromise

6

• "Not to have a split between the parties"; "he didn't want to excite the opposition"; "a political deal"; "because of a compromise with other political fractions"; "he compromised: the flag to the democrats, the anthem to the communists"; "to please someone and gain their approval"; "it is necessary to confirm the state symbols, and without compromise, everything would be very long, and the music is good"; "his task is compromise"; "to build agreement in society"; "to offend nobody"; "an attempt to reconcile the democrats with the Stalinists"; "for the agreement and making decisions in the Duma"; "to maintain the balance"; "he didn't want a split in the country".

The majority of the people were taken into account

8

• "Not to go against the masses"; "he decided to be together with the people"; "he studied the people's opinion"; "the nation wanted it so, particularly the older generation"; "everybody is for this music"; "because the main part of Russians wanted this music"; "he supported the majority of the population"; "the majority in the Duma chose the music by Alexandrov"; "the majority of the citizens wants to hear exactly this music"; "the people said it, and he listened to them"; "the majority was for the anthem of the USSR".

• "He himself grew up with this anthem; the music personifies for him the power of the state, its stability"; "his education, roots, memory, nostalgia"; "he grew with this anthem and was educated on its ideas"; "of all the variants, he probably liked this one"; "this melody is closer to him"; "because he lived with this melody"; "he and his father grew up on this anthem"; "his good memories are connected with this anthem".

• "It was good for the soul of the Russian people"; "this music is close to the people"; "it is in the blood of everyone"; "this is the favorite anthem of the people"; "it is close to the people"; "this music is in our souls"; "it's the people's anthem"; "people recognize this anthem"; "the melody is understood by the people".

Putin depends on the communists

1

• "He wants to win the support from the KPRF"; "for the communists"; "he doesn't want to quarrel with the communists"; "the communists gave him the idea"; "to satisfy the wishes of the communists".

Not an independent decision

1

• "Somebody governs him"; "due to the force of some voting and backstage talks, he was talked into this decision, he didn't work on it by himself"; "under the pressure of his surroundings"; "some forces influenced him"; "under the influence of his entourage: Voloshin and so on"; "somebody advised him".

• "He decided this question thoughtlessly, superficially"; "to split the society"; "he made a mistake"; "because he is a fool".