Putin IS a badass. Doesn't mean that it was right to invade Ukraine.
- Long after all of us are dead, history might view him as a monomanical popular totalitarian, like Iosef Stalin.
- He could just as likely be viewed as the man who exerted some dictatorial powers at the right moment, to prevent national chaos, disaster and ultimately more dictatorship. This was the path chosen by American presidents FDR and Abraham Lincoln.
- Maybe he's Tito: Didn't get dealt the best poker hand, took the right political risks, and swept the pot from the table.
- He might even be the popular strongman that retires once his house is in order, like Kemal Ataturk.
There's less civil and political freedom in Russia than there was in 1991-1999.
There is also greater safety and economic security for the average Russian citizen, today, then during those times.
I *believe* that he is a patriot, and sincerely believes what he's doing is right. I disagree with many of his actions.
I *happen* to believe that the Russian people are as inherently capable of modern Liberal Democracy as anyone. Many people disagree with me. They identify a servile 'Russian psyche' that happily trades liberty for security, so long as the strongman is 'one of them' (i.e. the Georgian, Stalin, was 'Russian enough').
These are opinions, and I could be wrong on both counts.