Well... Putin really is not the most evil leader in the world. I’d put, say, the president of Iran as a contender for that category. He can’t do much now, but wait.
The thing that Putin has going for his is that he is in no way a nutcase. Think of all the other dictators (sure, Putin is nominally a prime minister but we know who runs things)and (except for hu jintao) the whole crew of them are a good few nuts short of a party mix.
Putin is a pro. Evil, but a pro.