" A wise man once said "a snake does not bite all the time, but that does not mean it is producing honey, and not poison". The numbers have nothing to do with it. The readiness to cause these numbers, OTOH, has everything to do with it."
with this sort of relativism, you might as well throw hitler, mao, and pol pot into the comparison as well.
having a ruler who kills vocal critics (in what as far as I can tell are low numbers) is not unusual but is not very nice either, but is something that has been seen throughout history. it is what despots and monarchs do. I assume we are not pretending russia is a 'democracy' in this conversation.
having a ruler who willfully exterminates with little discrimination entire chunks of HIS OWN SUBJECT POPULATION is something else entirely.
please don't fall under the impression i am 'defending' putin; i am not. what i am saying is that there are two entirely different things going on when you have 'will someone rid me of this troublesome priest (and then orders it)' and 'kill everyone who lives in xyz or looks like xyz or who wins a military medal' or whatever.