Doctor Pangloss, so what you are saying is that we are enjoying the best of all possible Russias?
I find that hard to believe, personally.
Russia still has international ambitions, both in its near abroad (perhaps more territorial annexation, but above all else, frozen conflicts and ethnic tension) and beyond (in dismantling western institutions it perceives to be hostile).
Its economy is actually approaching levels of quasi-state control not seen since the Communist period as of late (judging how much exactly is hard because of cronyism blurring the lines), even while continuing privatization plans. This means, essentially, that there are kleptocratic and mafia-like elements in control over substantial parts of the economy.
Things could have gone much better. They should have eased into a market economy and only deployed shock therapy in the 90s in a few areas where the state was failing to a massive degree, and not deployed it in a manner that allowed capital assets to be stripped and stored abroad so quickly. The rise of Putin was very much avoidable. A securocrat comfortable with both the liberals and unltranationalists was basically a ready-made dictator.
Honestly, a Zyuganov victory in 1996 would NOT have been the worst thing possible. The 1990s saw Communist Parties around the world (from the ANC in South Africa and SWAPO in Namibia, to many of the Communist Parties in post-Soviet states that were in charge, and in China) begin to grasp that the gig was up and that the market was not going away, and Zyuganov was not hostile to market solutions based on his conversations with western investors at the World Economic Forum. A Zyuganov victory would have probably seen the climb down from state control be managed slower, but perhaps better.
Yes, the RFCP is a nationalist party that would have clashed in Chechnya just as the government in OTL did, but it was not ultimately a party that was un-democratic or going to be engaging in wars of conquest.
I think probably the most realistic but positive (if not the best) path would be a Zyuganov victory in 1996, an avoidance of the 1998 bond default and economic crisis by easing market reforms into place. The Chechnyan crisis would ensure his reelection in 2000, and the RFCP would become the default party of governance. The Color Revolutions would probably not help things long term, true, but I think they would simply manage over an economy that would be undynamic but not ultimately having the bottom fall out. Eventually, the RFCP would have a leadership turnover and a new generation would try to follow the China model (massive infrastructure investments to create growth to secure the pension system). Even Zyuganov himself had expressed admiration for Deng Xiaoping Theory.