I often think something missed about DS9 is that Sisko regularly takes an antagonistic role throughout the series. I think they wanted to do everything different, they wanted to take a show about science and make it about faith, take a captain and make him a prophet, take the hero and make him the villain, etc. Dukat is just like anybody else no matter how big or small the crime, he always sympathizes with himself first, it's what makes the character so believable despite him looking like a snake man cenobite lol. People often compare Sisko to Janeway in terms of their decision making, but Janeway did what she did for survival, while Sisko acted questionably out of dedication to the institutions around him. I think that aspect is interesting because he mirrors Dukat in a way.