Do you have a better alternative for Russia than Putin?
Do they have free elections in Russia?
The ultimate result of this is that wherever you fall on the spectrum of Putin/anti-Putin, theres really no getting around the fact that sooner or later Russia is f**ked, and theres really nobody to blame for that but Putin. Therefore I cant really understand why he still has Western admirers today. I do get the ones who just hate their own governments, have no experience with Russia, and just absorb a steady diet of bullsh*t from RT, Sputnik, and pro-Kremlin sites. But I dont get the people who work for outlets like that and continue to defend the man and his system. Even if we foolishly attributed all the positive things in the mid-2000s to Putin, all of that has either been negated or on the chopping block to be negated within the coming years. All I can think of is that the Western apologists do it for the money. Those who dont are complete idiots. There just is no other explanation. - J. Kovpak, "Russia Without BS"
For the record I don't support his rude tone nor all his views, but here he makes a lot of valid points.