My GF is Latvian, and I've spent some time over there, talking to people who served in the Latvian Legion (a unit of the SS, whose only mission was to keep Russia the fuck out of Latvia), and reading a bit about Soviet atrocities.
It's insane, really, the rhetoric coming out of Russia, to this day, trying to color the Baltic states and people as anti-Soviet, Nazi-loving fascists for every little thing they do to try and restore and preserve their own culture form the 60 years of literal rape they suffered under occupation. (apparently, not allowing Russian as an official language is considered "anti-Russian."
)
...yes, my opinion of "certain countries" and former empires has changed drastically over the last decade and while I try to maintain an open mind (it's the culture and the idea that pervades; not the people), this becomes difficult.