Get a globe. Trace Russia on a piece of cellophane/sandwich wrap flattened over it. Flatten it back out over Africa. (Or trace Africa and flatten it over Russia.) Now you have a more direct comparison
Or... Wikipedia says that Russia has a landmass of ~6.6 million square miles. South America is ~6.8 million square miles. Africa is 11.7 million square miles. Russia is almost the size of South America.
Except, South American has a lot of warm water ports.