> One is a mastermind and the other is a puppet.

No, one is a cruel fox and another one is a stupid monkey.

Their skills lie mainly in adaptability to the situations they found themselves in and using them, but neither is a mastermind.

I did not understand it that way. Putin is probably smarter than Trump (though he does not deserve to be regarded as a mastermind IMHO). The parallel I find interesting is that both are authoritarians who were helped to power by billionaires who thought it would serve their interests. We know the fate Russian “oligarchs” later met.