compared to someone like yourself who has not been to either country,
You don't know anything at all about this person.
And gets his opinions from random twitter accounts and one-sided news,
Pure ad-hominem and absolutely against site guidelines.
What makes me an expert ... is my parents escaped the USSR, I have lived and worked in both countries, and I have and currently do, talk almost daily to people I know in both countries.
This background is sufficient to make you informed; but it doesn't make you an "expert" about anything.