Yes. Stalin certainly fooled Hitler and the Germans in the initial stages of Operation Barbarossa.
And how about the way the Tsarist fleet tricked the Japanese Navy in the Battle of the Tsushima Strait?
Today, living in a Democracy, with Putin, they are much better off.
In the last 30 years Russia has changed, with our urging, for the better. We however are declining into a socialist state. I see Putin's Russia as a positive for us if we can get over stereotyping negatives, and partner with them.