[MarMema]

It is true, they are very eastern. Much of it is because their culture was shaped by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

[Clemenza]

Lets not forget the influence of the "Old Believers", and what was for many years a closer contact with Tatars, Kazars, Persians, etc. than with western Europe.

By contrast, it could be said that Poles are a westernized slavic people, due to both the influence of the Catholic Church, and the historic relations with France and the Holy Roman Empire versus with its neighbors to the east.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

I would vote for Ivan the Terrible—his nick name would better be translated into “awesome” As a Tsar he was one of the few who really gave a d*mm about his nation. Autocrat, yes, but he built the foundations of Russia for all of its glories and all of its sins.