I find it weird to defend Russia but you seem to be missing couple things. most importantly - it's not homogeneous, not even a republic. there's around 190 ethnic groups and ~40 officially recognized separatist groups. and that's important because it skews national narrative, mandates harder punishments and corruption as a crutch. when the media follows "99% heroic bullshit, 1% truth" scheme, it's somewhat challenging not to ignore politics - you get bored of it