These two rulers are very similar:

1) Both came to power rather by accident;

2) Both showed themselves as relatively secular, not fanatical, maybe even pro-Western;

3) Both started their rule quite liberally;

4) In 2021, according to official data, Assad "got" 95% of votes in the first tour of the presidential election. Putin "got" 87% in the first tour in 2024.

The next point is that any dictator benefits from the situation when the population have a little choice - either this dictator or a civil war. Please tell me if anyone knows how Assad did it in Syria. Currently I understand how Putin does this in Russia:

1) Now Chechnya is in fact an independent state, with a monarchical form of government, currently as an ally for the Russian Federation. But this "union" has to be paid for. Kadyrov has always shown himself to be anti-liberal; and if the next president starts democratic reforms )a thaw_, then Kadyrov will say that he and the Russian Federation are not on the same path, and this president will have to start a third Chechen war;

2) Until recently, another such figure was Evgeniy Prigozhin. He has always positioned himself as an extreme anti-liberal, and while he demanded to ban YouTube and turn Russia into the DPRK, Putin favored him and allowed him to grow;

3) One more such figure now is Viktor Zolotov, a chief of RosGuardia. As far as I understand it, he has his own army with armored vehicles and artillery.

Didn't want to start a thread for this but wanted to post this video, it's somewhat on topic, and no one else has replied to the original post.

+1 to the OP.

Edited January 1Jan 1 by J.C.MacSwell