Ethnic Russian here.

I don't give a fuck about Donald Trump tbh anymore, but this idea that Putin is a 'dictator' has got to stop: Russian people genuinely love him, and the people you see like Navalny, Pussy Riot, are such a small group, politically speaking, they're as marginalised as the black panthers or American Nazi Party are in American politics (and about as important); Indeed, if Putin was to somehow lose power tomorrow, It would be the Orthodox Marxist Leninists led by Zyuganov who'd replace him, and that would be far, far worse.

The man has an approval rating of 82% according to Gallup--not some Russian intelligence agency's poll, but Gallup, from within the belly of the beast itself.

European NGOs have never challenged the validity of his elections, since he has won them soundedly with vast majorities that wouldn't even need to be fabricated. He is easily the most popular leader in the world today, and someone like Obama would kill to have his approval ratings and legacy.