You have a naive understanding of what people can be made to belive when you de-facto control the media.
Russians say things like "Russia has never invaded anyone"
It's absurd, it's crazy, it's far detached from reality...but if thats what your TV beats into you day in and out you are likely to belive it.
If no one on TV ever criticizes Dear Leader, if all they do is justify all he does and frame economic reality, then guess what, he is going to be pretty popular no matter what is going on. That's why autocrats are usualy so much more popular than leaders in democratic countries.
If all your TV shows about America is slumps, gay parades and drugs, then you are actually going to belive thats what life is like in America.
If all your TV shows 24/7 are Ukranian soldiers with Nazi tatoos, crowd in Kiev doing anti-Moscovite chants, someone saying they can't speak Russian in Ukraine, and graves for children in Donbas then you are going to belive that bloody leveling of Ukranian cities and getting around million people killed is some sort of liberation operation.
Just look at all the crazy shit our very own Moscovite specimen posts on here. Let tell you, he is VERY average out there.