I think I read similar piece when they tried to shuffle their shooting of MH-17 and point the finger on Ukraine. Turns out to be propaganda as well.
That's negative portrayal of a violent corrupt dictatorship.
It started long before Putin and long before communists.
But things changed - Russia is much more known - while something remained the same - perception of the threat. Only now there are causes for that, so the article isn't accurate, portraying West as being "unnaturally" negative to Russia. West is negative for specific reasons, something which the article fails to address.