Russia is, as it most often has been in its bloody history, a centralized authoritarian state run by despots and oligarchs.  What appeals to a certain element in "the West" at this point is its deep-seated white nationalism, evangelical orthodox Christianity, and assault on women's rights and the rights of LGBT people.  The world war alliances were marriages of convenience to squeeze the Axis powers in the middle, alliances that did not last in peacetime.  Putin is an unpopular, ruthless, murdering former spy with a stranglehold on his country's institutions.  You might also want to look up why Canada passed its own Magnitsky act to sanction Russian blood money.  People in Russia are hungry, protesting, fleeing.  People in the satellite states it wants to retake are in a bad spot. It takes a bit more than Google to research this one:  It takes an actual history book or course.   Though if that's too hard, you can watch some TV: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/putins-revenge/