Putin dictates Russian political policy. Thus my labeling hime a “dictator.” That being said, I partially agree with you, and have updated the text to say, “semi-dictator.” Putin doesn’t rule like in Saudi Arabia for various reasons, a simple one being that Russia is vast.

My post was on US greed and short-sightedness in our post-USSR Russia strategy, not on the unique internal Russian power sharing model. Thus a lack of detail.

Putin shares financial power with the oligarchs who were (literally) killing each other in their power struggles. The rough agreement is, Putin has domestic control; the oligarchs can do what they want financially, as long as they stay out of politics, particularly domestic politics. The examples of what happens when a Russian oligarch decides to get involved in politics make this clear.

There are a lot more details about the balance of power in Russia that don’t fit in a Medium response. I defer to Stephen F. Cohen’s numerous works.