I can tell you stories about the Russian people....
I have one son who was starving to death in a Georgian orphanage during the civil war. When the Americans came to get the remaining (living) children from this place, they found the children had mostly survived because of the coats, blankets and food left for them by the Russian soldiers passing through.
When my husband was in northern Russia adopting our oldest daughter, Tatiana, in a small village, he took her to the park each day to play. She was 7 and told all the Russian people at the park about her new father from America who had come to take her home.
That evening my husband answered the door at his flat more times than he could count, to Russian women bringing him dishes of steaming food, handmade gifts, toys for our daughter. All of which these people could hardly afford.
The Russian people that I have known, and I know a lot of them, have many admirable traits which I believe run deep within their culture. They have done so much for our family, on our many trips there, and always have been more than gracious and hospitable. The Russians gave us three children when we were unable to have more than one, and for this gift we can never thank them enough.
I believe that Putin is a good man, and not a communist any longer. To understand the Russian viewpoint, it is good to study their language and culture, and especially the church which formed their country.
The Russians I know cherish their freedoms, and they have many, many more everyday freedoms than we do here in this country now. Most importantly the Russian people have learned the hard way about what can happen when you turn away from God. We have yet to learn this lesson, I fear.