There is no chance he could have become president without the support of the Russian mafia, which is the biggest in the world.
It would be hugely surprising if he didn't owe some very unpleasant people - like Semion Mogilevich - for it.
you are of the stance "there's no collective madness, just evil rulers"... it's naive
1990s Russia is quite dissimilar to other situations in history where there isn't one person causing the outcome. For example, regarding Japanese history of 1930s/1940s, it was not one kingmaker, it was a long chain of events and decisions involving many people. Your thinking would be correct if applied here.
It's true, however, that Putin's moves wouldn't have been possible without the situation that he found himself in ... a weakened Yeltsin, dire economy, and nationalist sentiment after the apartment bombings. Putin capitalized on these things to get power. But once he was in power, it was mostly him.