who is, in many ways, a dictatorial imperialist
much like the ones ruling over the US, Canada, Germany, Austria, France, Australia, New Zealand, China, Ukraine, UK, Southafrica. Ok, he seems a bit more competent than those.
edit: I think you should watch Putin at the Munich conference, if you haven't already. It seems everybody is talking about this 'evil dude', but very few make the effort to listen to a first-hand-source, himself.
Shouldn't you know people you (almost) call your enemies?
Yes, imperial ambitions exist everywhere. But the accepted method at the moment is soft power, not military conquest. What makes you think of Putin's competence?
I would not agree that the countries I mentioned use soft power ;)
Putin is competent as a politician (esp. in comparison); e.g. if asked a question, he takes time to answer. Less of the questions or answers are scripted. If he says something, chances are that it is still valid on the next day/month/year. He has an interest in the quality of life of 'his' people. All this should be a normal qualifications for politixens, but is not.
If you want to see his competence, I recommended the video already. Oliver Stone's interviews are also a good insight.
btw. Russia is one of the few countries which developed a 'vaccine' (that also did not function), that had by far less severe side effects (it's not mRNA based). Some think that Russia was aware that this would be a way to protect citizens from bad things that were let loose in most other countries.
When blaming Russia for the war, the activities of Kiev concerning eastern Ukraine during the Minsk agreement should be considered.