We used to have dictators like the Shah and Pinochet and people said it was bad. Then we put on democracy and let islam do its things, and people said it was bad. Now Russia is blessed in keeping its own dictators.
In other words, people supporting Putin are getting either manipulated or do not realize the kind of extremely dangerous maneuver of submission they are accepting under Putin.
Actually we simply see that natural order is reasserting itself after dormancy under liberal governance.
What Russia does in it’s hemisphere is between Russia and the people on that side of the pond to work out amongst themselves. The only people manipulated/doing the manipulating are those trying to stop terrorists from being killed via pacifist BS.
Putin is what Putin is. Until he flies Bears and Blackjecks here and bombs us, what he does to terrorists is his concern. We can applaud him when he does the correct thing.