Many countries include ‘Democratic’ or ‘People’s’ in their names, even though they are not democratic and do not serve their people. Examples: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Lao People’s Democratic Republic People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Democratic Republic of the Congo And German Democratic Republic (East Side) in 1949–1990. None of these states are democratic, power and wealth are concentrated in the hands of a small ruling elite. Who are they fooling with these names?
US uses that radical leftist “United” word though.
Same for the USSR, which Putin is desperately trying to reform, despite the former soviets being staunchly opposed to Russian imperialism.
I get the sense that if Putin’s trying to revive any historical Russian power it’s the Russian Empire rather than the USSR. The man glazes people like Ivan Illyin for example, a Russian ultranationalist who absolutely hated communism. The only bit of the USSR which really lives on in modern Russia is the fact that institutionally paranoid counterintelligence people play a far greater role in practical governance than they should in a state of any description.
Russian rhetoric about Ukraine in my opinion sounds closer to how the 19th century Victorian establishment spoke about Ireland than how the USSR spoke about history too.
If you think that Piton is trying to reform the USSR, you are unaware about what the USSR was, and/or about what contemporary Russia is.
Don’t worry, Putin is just as malinformed about these two.