Paranoia. Just look at all the suffering last century. Then think of Napoleon before.
Mongols, too. And let’s not forget the Roman Catholics did a Crusade against the Orthodox at some point in the 13th Century, and the Bulgarians did something or other, too, against the Byzantines and their leaders started calling themselves “Czar”.
Only difference between CatherPutin and a full-fledged Czar at this point is that he can’t pass the post on to his son. He’s the protector of the Eastern Church, although he chose to dispossess the Christian Nagorno-Karabach Armenians in favor of the Islamic Azerbaijanis. He has absolute power. He rules over Bialarussia, Chechnya sort of, and everything from the Uke border to Vladivostok. A very tin-horn Czar, but a Czar nevertheless.