Putin is a ruthless dictator. Full stop.
Russian disinformation runs deep. Careful out there, whataboutism enjoyers.
Discussion
Check out "Provoked" by Scott Horton, or his colleague's work at Antiwar.com . Western propaganda runs deeper
Looking at Russian history, both at former leaders and centuries of British and Polish aggression, between the forces that a Russian leader must counteract and how his predecessors fared, he seems pretty above average.
Oh, you're still on the level of diffetentiating between 'good' and 'bad' slaveholders.
Pro Tip: they're all the same, no difference.
Be free or be a statist boot licker
Historically, one of the best indicators when differentiating good and bad leaders is the extent to which they can be criticized and made fun of.
It's also highly correlated to the number of journalists falling from high rise buildings or running into bullets.
My personal gauge for this is basically asking if the people who deny this have ever traveled to a Baltic country, Ukraine, Georgia, Eastern European, or any former victim of Soviet/Russian aggression and talked to a single person there.
Friend of mine in college used to be the business editor for the Kyiv post. His stories alone were enlightening to me even before this most recent invasion
