Russia is no longer communist. In fact since before the Romanov Dynasty the Russian people have never had it so good under Putin. It’s not the west for sure but it’s way better than anything they had in the past.
Have had it good with a $15,000 per capita GDP while the oligarchs are obscenely wealthy.
They’ve also meddled in the US for over 100yrs up to and including backing the fracking protests within the last 10yrs.
Feel free to call it anything, it is a totalitarian nation led by a former KGB stooge dictator.
I’m still going to call it communist as it is home to more communists than anywhere else on earth but China.
It is an interesting point, which applies to almost the entire world.
It is called technological progress, coupled with the ability to exploit hydrocarbon fuels.
The question would be: Do Russians attribute this to Putin, or do they see themselves lagging behind many of their slavic brothers and sisters?
Many Russian troops were astonished to see how "rich" the people in Ukraine were.