I would certainly agree with that in a general sense, bobad.

On the other hand, I see no reason to change my opinion about what kind of government seems to work best in Russia.

As far as "the rule of law" goes, oppressive governments usually have little or no trouble instituting laws which make their abuses of their population technically entirely legal...in that society.

As to whether such a government fares well in the long run, that can depend on many factors, such as...

How well they handle the economy.
How well they provide employment and social services.
To what extent they maintain the support of a majority of the citizens at any given time.
To what extent they can direct the population's hostility at someone else rather than at the government.
To what extent they have the confidence of the citizenry.
To what extent they avoid terrible blunders in war and foreign policy.

Hitler's government, for example, handled all of the above matters very well, except the last one...his government failed when it got the country into wars way too big for Germany to handle. He was very successful domestically, but he overstepped himself in embarking on reckless military adventures.

The USA has a government at various levels which sanctions murder...in the form of capital punishment. This is pretty much unknown in western Europe, and it is regarded as barbaric by most Europeans. I'd have to agree with them on that. Still...it's legal in many American states.

You see, it all depends on one's perspective, and perspective is influenced by whatever a people are already accustomed to and mostly satisfied with. That varies from one place to another.

It looks to me like a majority of Russians think Putin has been doing a good job governing Russia. As long as they continue to think so, his position is strong, correct? That doesn't mean his hands are clean, and I'm not saying it does. If he had totally clean hands, he would not be running Russia! ;-) Nor would he be able to run Russia, and keep his hands clean.