Not really, as the next word was ‘but’ with a comparison to Obama.
In my view Putin has catapulted Russia back onto center stage with his various provocations. Obama at the same time has withdrawn the US from any world leadership role unless it is in concert with his crazy ideas i.e. redesignation of NASA into a Muslim outreach utensil. Whether it be the space program, the decline of the dollar in world trade, at the insistence of the BRICs of which Russia is one, unilateral nuclear disarmament favoring Russia, et al, Putin's leadership in Russia has benefited that country at our expense. That is the basis of my comments. These maybe as laughable to some who think he has amassed a $75 billion personal fortune but to me they form the basis of opinion. One does not have to be a proponent of anyone to assess what they have accomplished.
As far as the original post about why it seems Putin lost in the Eastern Ukraine, I believe the jury is still out on that one.