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Lord_Nivloc t1_j1rb7sg wrote

Well, he did an impressive job for the first decade or so. Authoritarian, killed a lot of people for political gain, but dragged Russia out of the post-collapse gutter.

But then Putin decided that he would never join the club with the Evil Western Powers.

And then he decided that he could bully Ukraine with no consequences. And then he decided that he could invade Ukraine with no consequences. And he decided to do it at possibly the worst possible time, when the US arms industry was sitting around twiddling their thumbs.

And then he doubled down. And doubled down again. And again, and again.

And now Russia is ruined, and he’ll be remembered as one of the worst rulers in modern history. (But still not the worst in Russia’s modern history, oof)

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thomasz t1_j1rwyk3 wrote

Not Putin. George W. Bush dragged Russia out of the gutter by sending the oil price into the stratosphere in the early 2000s.

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Can_of_Ubik t1_j1s0fih wrote

True. That and Kasyanov's rather generic post-soviet economic reforms.

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