He has Princes waiting in his wings that will continue the same kleptocratic dictatorship in that country for decades to come. Nothing will change when he, hopefully soon, dies.
I know it is enough to fill several books but I don’t see how we went from Gorbachev to this.
I’ll hold hope that the Princes will be less homicidal maniacs. I think there is something extra psychotic about Putin that you don’t find in normal people.