Excellent observation. After Stalin, the Soviet leadership was careful not to repeat the same mistakes.

Two generations later, with the system change, the old Russian mentality prevailed again.

I guess you worked in Russia with business-minded people, more open to Western values and ideas. Under stress, some of them may fall back into the totalitarian style of political thinking shaped by Russian history.

From what I read and hear, Western pundits and politicians do not capture the difference in the values between the West and Russia.