In the past, Russia has supported Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, and Bashar al Assad. On each of these occasions, they were proven right. After the fall of Gaddafi, Libya became a paradise for human smugglers. And when Saddam was ousted, he was replaced by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. Now the Americans are trying to topple Bashar al Assad, fully knowing that the ISIS will replace him.
Sigh. And America has also supported dictators in the past, remember when dictatorships like Marcos were rampant during the Cold War era? And that only to stop the spread of communism. Russia and US basically played Earth like a chessboard those days.
There was no denying Saddam was horrible... how many times has he tried invading his neighbors? I'm not sure about Gaddaffi but he probably also did some horrible stuff to some people there (he did provide them education and internet, and that was his downfall). But however horrible they may be, they kept all these radicals in check and whatever troubles they have usually stayed within their borders.
I agree they should have been replaced, but more gradually, with enough time for democratic institutions to built up first..