[vkou]

Was it more or less damaging then the tire-pyre disaster that the country went through in the 90s, prior to him taking power?

That's when my family left, and while my remaining relatives have soured against Putin in recent years (Funny how that happened... They were all for him, right up until ~2017, or so), nobody feels nostalgic for the 90s.

Let's not whitewash history. The Russian public has only recently started souring on him. The brain drain didn't start because of him - it started 28 years ago, as soon as the borders were opened.

[thrwway34]

And the drain stopped because he worked hard to eliminate poverty and bring stable relations with the rest of the world? Nope.

So brain drain became even more of a problem under his rule.