The reason Russia has elevated tyrants to power for centuries is deep-rooted in Russian soul to the point where it's not even a problem. It's something that is inexplicably difficult to understand unless you actually experience the culture for a good portion of your life. There is a lot of literature out there about the "Russian Soul" and I really recommend reading it to understand how this happens. In my opinion it's almost like a mass psychosis that everyone is aware of but have been "deprogrammed" to deal with and blaming people in Russia for atrocities of their regimes is like blaming a sick person for being sick. Most of the time they themselves were the victims while being told "it's just life, deal with it." With that said, people are slowly waking up and it's mostly young people who have the luxury of traveling the world and experiencing real democracies. Unfortunately, I think Russia will continue on its tyrannical path until the old generations die off and these younger folks take over.