Putin doesn't kill his opposition. It's Putin's allies such as Surovikin who do those things. They realize that if Putin doesn't have power, they won't either. Putin passed numerous laws to improve people's lives in Russia. All Yeltsin did was create stupid tax laws, which caused economic turmoil in Russia. He also allowed oligarchy corruption. Putin doesn't. Ever wondered why most Russian oligarchs are never in Russia? Also, Yeltsin decided to attack Chechnya and annex it for absolutely no reason other than the fact that it was a small country that was next to Russia. And he lied about Russian deaths in Chechnya as well as telling commanders to "dispose" of bodies.