I don’t know enough about Russian politics to judge Putin more than what I can read about him (mostly non-US press). What I see is that he is an authoritarian, but he is clearly what Russia needed at that time. He definitely saved Russia from being completely turned into a failed state through western exploitation.

The most I can say personally about Putin is that his bodyguards are fucking huge. In a previous life (segment) I was eating breakfast in a ski hotel Am Arlberg near St. Anton in the far west of Austria. He was staying in the same hotel and his bodyguards came down to eat and get food while I was there.

No apologies about your clumsy English needed. Your English is 10000 times better than my Russian!