Supposedly, an RS-26 was launched from Astrakhan and targeted at infrastructure in Dnipro.
You also underestimate the stupidity of the average voter/person. Most people vote on vibes, not policy, and don’t pay that much actual attention to politics.
The US reached the “bread and circuses” stage of politics a decade or so ago. Once the population figures out it can vote itself money (or the promise of money) it’s all over.
Look at the campaign promises of the incoming president. “More for you, not them”, sums it up. The problem is that everyone hopes they are the “you” in that offer.