Was orange? :-)

More seriously, yeah Putin was definitely someone who took Machiavelli's lessons to heart (with the possible exception of "if you have something unpopular to do, do it all at once, not a bit at a time" (paraphrasing as I'm too lazy to go find the actual quote) - was smart enough to carry it out - and seems to have had his scruples scooped out with a melon-baller, so no hesitation on following them. Pretty sure he's not following Machiavelli, but some KGB playbook drilled into him as a young officer in training. Scooping probably happened then, too. Just look at the way he walks, left hand swinging free, right kept closer to where a pistol would be. KGB training.