Vladimir Putin is a disabled autistic manlet. Exports centered around a simpler oil and gas model (Vladimir Barely knew the basics of the economy), and propaganda invented with couple fun and skillful masquerade operations or rusbotting. It wouldn't have been popular without the presence of him, he would hardly have been popular with a number of qualified KGB agents who were shooting opposition politicians. Drinking after drinking, Putin's only way of dealing with it was to circumvent the Ukrainian joke of excessive fascism, because he couldn't just admit he had problems with his state. After all, the only merit of this largest Russian leader is probably how many economic sanctions he could get with the west.