Regarding Russia, it's certianly no Paradise, and it's fallen dramatically from its proud Soviet roots. It's a modern tragedy. However, the US Empire is the global hegemon, the premier imperialist power, while Russia is a strong friend to Cuba, China, Iran, Venezuela, and many other anti-imperialist countries like Burkina Faso. It's playing a progressive role, despite being dominated by capitalism in the current era.

The USSR had steady and consistent economic growth, and provided free, high quality education and healthcare, full employment, cheap or free housing, and fantastic infrastructure and city planning that still lasts to this day despite capitalism neglecting it. This rapid development resulted in dramatic democratization of society, reduced disparity, doubling of life expectancy, tripling of functional literacy rates to 99.9%, and much more. Living in the 1930s famine would not have been good, but it was the last major famine outside of wartime because the soviets ended famine in their countries.

Literacy rates, societal guarantees in the 1936 constitution, reports on the healthcare system over time, and more are good sources for these claims.

The USSR brought dramatic democratization to society. First-hand accounts from Statesian journalist Anna Louise Strong in her book This Soviet World describe soviet elections and factory councils in action. Statesian Pat Sloan even wrote Soviet Democracy to describe in detail the system the soviets had built for curious Statesians to read about, and today we have Professor Roland Boer's Socialism in Power: On the History and Theory of Socialist Governance to reference.

When it comes to social progressivism, the soviet union was among the best out of their peers, so instead we must look at who was actually repressed outside of the norm. In the USSR, it was the capitalist class, the kulaks, the fascists who were repressed. This is out of necessity for any socialist state. When it comes to working class freedoms, however, the soviet union represented a dramatic expansion. Soviet progressivism was documented quite well in Albert Syzmanski's Human Rights in the Soviet Union.

The truth, when judged based on historical evidence and contextualization, is that socialism was the best thing to happen to Russia in the last few centuries, and its absence has been devastating.

Death rates spiked:

And wealth disparity skyrocketed alongside the newly impoverished majority:

Capitalism brought with it skyrocketing poverty rates, drug abuse, prostitution, homelessness, crime rates, and lowered life expectancy. An estimated 7 million people died due to the dissolution of socialism and reintroduction of capitalism, and this is why the large majority of post-soviet citizens regret its fall. A return to socialism is the only path forward for the post-soviet countries. A lot of Eastern European countries were swarmed with western capital during the destruction of socialism, which is what temporarily caused the rise of the far-right in these countries, but in time their problems will no longer be able to be ignored.

*i'm going to be doing graphene too and i'm waiting for motorola.

My honest stance is that Russia and the US are just as bad as one another. Anyone who defends either of these two countries is suspect to me. I do think the fact that other Eastern European countries flinch at Russia is highly indicative that something clearly went wrong in the Soviet Union. However, I dislike that the CIA got involved in the dissolution of the USSR.

this "both sides" argument is indicative of the extent to which western propaganda has impacted your thought process.

the FOIA litmus test will easily tell you whether or not your source is biased. since the late 1970's the FOIA has effectively been forcing the us gov't to publicly admit that it manufactured propaganda about many things including north korea as an "authoritarian" state.

if your source still characterizes north korea as an authoritarian state; then know that they're giving you propaganda that the us gov't has already effectively said is fake -- in writing -- since 1979.