Mirth you're skipping the part where those ex members have been guided and pressured into opposition to Russia or the USSR by the US even during the time of the Warsaw pact.
I don't think you understand my point if you point to me "stressing" that Russia is not CCCP or the Zar Empire, I know well that countries living in the shadow of a hegemon like that will always face issues - there are more than enough examples of Russia doing just that and I didn't deny that once. I would strongly disagree with Finland being neutral though but that's not important.
What you Gurgen or Steak all fail to grasp is how profound and comparably subtle Western influence is globally. Whether it's bombs dropping or drone strikes (reserved for brown and black people), extortionate backdoor diplomacy, funding of opposition be they moderate free market oriented reformers or jihadi rebels, organisational support and schooling of said opposition through the School of the Americas or the NED, covert activity from any of the letter agencies etc - you can't overstate how it's totally impossible for anything resembling normal governance in the countries affected to be achieved. That goes for both Russia and it's small neighbours.
You say Russia is always going to be this monstrous entity out to consume everything but the reality is its economy been in shambles for most of this century, its military as we see in Ukraine isn't worth half of its poor rep and unlike the countries of interest to the actual remaining superpower there are deep cultural ties with most of the countries it considers in its sphere of interest.
Doesn't mean that Putin isn't an ice cold calculating ruthless politician but he's precisely exactly that - not a lunatic that's invading anything in reach. Understanding the situation would be better served with less focus on the alleged insanity of his and more with what you euphemistically called "overplaying their hands" of a country whose GDP is 15x larger and whose involvement in political affairs in literally every country on earth is well documented.