Wait when did someone bring up a Country? The only thing I saw personally was that they belong to a site about something with Russian. Belonging to a web site about Russia doesn't really mean anything; I know of lots of people who live in England and are Italia-philes; They Love Italy, Love Italian cooking, and more, but they don't live there, and aren't of Italian descent either.
As for "What the West thinks about Russia"... I don't think that's a fair thing to say; I was born, raised, and taught here in the US, and I've lived in Michigan from my Birth. I've never been to another American State in my entire Life, but I did live in Canada (Quebec) for about a year, before moving back to Michigan where I learned how ****ed up and stupid our Immigration System works, but Canada to most Michigan born and raised people, is nothing but another state.
You'd have to look long and hard to find a Michigan East Coast, or Michigan Northern Coast person, who hasn't been to Canada 200 times, and knows a lot of Canadians.
There's even jokes about Michigan; Like "You know you're from Michigan whe half the Coins in your pocket are from Canada" and so on.
Canada feeds our economy more than any State does, and most of us here, have gone to Canada for everything from Shopping, to just going to eat at Taco Bell where they have Fries Supreme that we don't have here in the US.
We also go and buy Codeine over the counter, to bring back with us, since the laws on Pain Killers in the US are far worse than any Hitler ever did.
Being of German Heritage, and knowing that my Mom was a first generation American Born in my family, I can say that with confidence. My Family was part of the German Resistance in WW2 because we hated Hitler even when it was a death sentence to speak up against him. That's one of the reasons my family left Germany. der Vaterland was in turmoil at the time and my family did NOT like the Nazis, and refused to obey them.
They left Germany, and my Grandpa joined the US side to fight them. I'm proud of that. And I'm damn proud of my German Heritage. When people think of Germany, they instantly think of Nazis. Yet we make the best Cars on Earth. No one "strives" to buy a ****ing Chevy, they strive to buy a Mercedes, or Porsche (Which by the way, for you idiots, it's pronounced "Porshuh" NOT "Porsh"!) and BMWs.
We also were the first country to separate Morphine from Opium to make Pain Killers more available. Before this, you just ate or smoked Opium for Pain. We also were the first to synthesize Oxycodone, Hydrocodone Bitartrate, Hydromorphone, and basically every GOOD Pain Killer on the Market today. But no one thinks of that stuff, they just see Blond Haired Nazis with Blue Eyes.
As for what the perceptions of Russia are... I do not appreciate being categorized as a typical idiot American who knows nothing of culture or countries outside my own. I know damn well the Russian Government cannot, and does not, just invade privacy. Russia has a rich Heritage of structures and Buildings that are not only Beautiful, but also has some of the finest Churches I've ever seen. And who else is going to stand up to make Vodka better than them?
Have you ever tried to choke down ****ing American made Vodka? UGH! It's almost as bad as our "Chocolate" which I put in quotation marks purely to insult anyone who may know someone who's a Chocolatier, or anyone from here, who is one. It's disgusting!
If I ever rise to power; I'm going to import laws from Europe for Chocolate, Candy, and Alcohol. We would no longer be allowed to call what we has as Chocolate, Chocolate. It would be called "Chocolate flavored Candy" since it's mostly wax anyway. And don't get me started on Champaign ! Champaign is exactly like Cognac; It's ONLY allowed to be called as such, if it's made the exact way, from the exact region of France. Nothing else!
Anyway, now that my rant is done, and I've made my point about assumptions on people from "The west" ;) heh.