Russia is evil, historically. Or perhaps one can say its suffered from a collective socio-cultural psychopathy. Its never recovered from the Mongol invasions, especially not the aftermath of the entrenchment of despotic elites, most of which had Mongol ancestry. Muscovy crushed the first flowerings of commercial cities in the region, such as Novgorod.
Ever since Russia has been a nation of slaves, vulnerable to every predatory gang that came along. One such gang has periodically replaced another, but the basic structure has always been the same.
Ref - Richard Pipes, “Russia Under the Old Regime”
They're a bunch of thugs with nukes. If not for nukes, their country would have been broken up into pieces by now.
Richard Pipes—— I met his secretary at a party. In so many words, she said he was a demanding guy to work for. He was a conservative, was one of the principals at Harvard’s Russian research institute. He lived to 94, so must have been doing something right.