Would you rather a corrupt politician than made the country rich (Haughey, Putin) or an honest politician that made the country poor (Mugabe)?
And Russia is arguably having quite a bit of trouble, economically, not even just because of the sanctions but because the general corruption in the country just doesn't allow for a sufficient retooling of the Russian economy. And the sanctions are a direct consequence of Putin not wanting to play by the rules and now being excluded from the game.
Mugabe, yes, initially wanted to redistribute the land wonderfully... didn't totally think that one through.
I just mean to say that integrity and competence are not analogues.
Putin never achieved anything without cutting down his opposition.
What Putin certainly did was to turn Russia into an authoritarian state, run mostly by ex-KGB officers. What he didn't do was to make the society more open and retool and revitalize the economy. He also did hardly anything against corruption which didn't directly affect is ability to rule.