It is all absolute bull crap. Everyone in Russia was glad to see them gone.
The problem emerged when the leadership of these countries was highjacked by foreign interests who weaponized them against new democratic Russia.
Hence you have Putin and the advocacy of Soviet revanchism.
In 1993 or 94 Nixon predicted this would happen.
He said that we had a chance to bring a free capitalist society to Russia and that would prove to the world that such a society works.
BJ Klintoon started the march to where we are now and it has been downhill every since.