I had gone on my trip shortly after Obama was elected. Most Russians really did not have an opinion of him one way or the other (and probably couldn't have picked him out of lineup). Lol! I did have one Russian guy say in true astonishment, "Why would a white country ever elect a black man?"
One thing you quickly learn about the Russians, is that what we call "political correctness" simply does not exist. Our first day in Russia, we were introduced to our Russian co-workers in a crowded meeting, the Russian branch manager introduced us by spreading his arms wide and said, "Look at all these beautiful Russian women. I think you will have a great time working with us...unless you are...what you call...a f**ggot." Needless to say you would never hear that from a manager in a packed meeting in the US (or if you did he would an ex-manager in 10 minutes).
One of my favorite YT bloggers is “Bald and Bankrupt” who is an Englishman who travels all throughout the former Soviet Union, I really gained a better understand of the people there from those videos.