Putin hated Communism as an economic system, but he loved the power of the Soviet Union, and Imperial Russia.
“Putin hated Communism as an economic system, but he loved the power of the Soviet Union, and Imperial Russia.”
Well, he certainly thought it was best for Russian communities to live under Russian rule. I don’t think he has much to desire to rule over Eastern Europe again, which is what it would take to have the same power as the Soviet Union.
For what it’s worth, Putin’s views in that regard mirror the Russian-Slavic nationalist philosophy of the iconic Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.