To be honest, in my opinion the painful truth is that Russia really is much better off under Putin than it has been ever since 1989. Putin is an autocrat, but the rule of law actually drastically increased under him. Putin didn't abolish the freedom of the press, human rights, rule of law, a functioning economic system - he rather re-established a minumum of those. Russians are much more secure in their rights and livelihood now than ever during the plunder of the early nineties, the financial crisis of the late nineties, the Yeltsin years.

I can be all sanctimonious about murdered journalists, intimidation, polonium, dictatorial tendencies, aggressive foreign policy, but Putin was a great step up from what was before.

Putin isn't the first autocrat to re-establish order in a country. He is also not the first to not see that the next step should be to step down. History would've judged him kindly if he did. Alas, power corrupts, absolute power etc.