One factor was clear: Putin‘s muscular response to domestic terrorism. In September of 1999, a string of mysterious apartment bombings killed hundreds of people in several cities around Russia and paralyzed the country with fear.
It was a 9/11 moment for Russia. And, much like President George W. Bush, who would promise retribution against al Qaeda in his bullhorn speech to emergency rescuers at Ground Zero in New York after September 11, 2001, Putin delivered the kind of tough talk that many Russians wanted to hear.