You're attributing to me, that which I'm attributing to political leaders after the fall of the Soviet Union.
I re-read your post. You are correct, and I was way off. I dunno if I posted before my first cup of coffee, but my reading comprehension was really bad. Mea Maxima Culpa!
I thought Russia might be able to change its spots, but their actions starting in the late 200x showed otherwise.
When Putin came to the helm, it was over. He was KGB.One does not leave KGB or the ideology except by death, or alphabet soup name change.
And while not quite communist, it isn't all that different in practice from before the fall of the USSR, A small class of extreme privilege, and the rest of the country.
Let me repeat Pug Ismay's characterization of NATO: "US in, Germany down, Russia out" NATO succeeded for a long time, but it's not clear to me now NATO is working. Hungary & Turkey have at various times been the primary impediment to NATO consensus on various missions.
Turkey always seemed like an odd fit into NATO. Hungary could be playing with fire. In my assessment of the situation today, the Russian Federation today is not the Soviet Union. Can they come to dominate Europe, or at least create a Stalinesque vision of buffer states? Probably not. I do not think they have enough power. Their difficulties in Ukraine show some serious weaknesses. A country that teaches about the Holodomor in their history classes might just fight back. I would expect most EU countries would also fight back.
Replying after finishing that first cup today. 8^)