I would say that even if the situation was similar, this solution would be untenable in the USA because of being unconstitutional. In the USA, plenary power lies in the states and powers are delegated to the federal government in a limited manner. In the RF, this solution is both time-tested and fully legal, therefore it is in Putin's toolbox and he is entitled to use it.
The RF is not the USA, and doesn't have the same culture, we need to get over that.
I don’t excuse the practices of other countries merely because they are not the USA. The cause of liberty is not restricted to our borders. And what with the “old leaven” (to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson) of the past entrenched in the RF’s current “social” constitution, allowing old enmity to spring back up is against the best interests of the USA.
BTW, nice use of the leftist “cultural differences/we must respect the cultures of others” canard.