[Jongseong]

I would like to think that most people would be able to distinguish between the Russian people and culture on the one hand and their current government on the other. But let's use the shorthand of saying "Russia" for the geopolitical entity. "Russia" still generates a lot of fear based on recent history, where Russians were the privileged nationality in the Soviet empire, which surrounded itself with satellite states controlled by the Red Army. It was until a few decades ago one of two superpowers vying for global domination. Many neighbouring peoples have memories of being denied statehood (Ukrainians, Tatars), being invaded (Czechs, Slovaks, Hungarians) and even occupied (Balts), or being deported wholesale (Chechens, Crimean Tatars) by Russia within the last century, so there is an underlying part of their psychology that sees Russia as a potential existential threat.

Russia is by no means unique in this respect. This applies to most global and regional hegemons. There are many that do not like the U.S. or China. Britain and Germany in recent memory, or France earlier in early modern Europe, inspired similar fear. But what is particularly worrying about Russia now is that the narrative being privileged within the country only portrays Russia as the victim of recent history. This makes it difficult for Russians and their neighbours to come to a common historical understanding.