Inventing Reality

I think it's pretty easy to look at it in terms of classes. In Russia, the nationalist bourgeoisie are in power, and because of the lack of capital export as a driving factor, there is practically no imperialist bourgeoisie in Russia. Meanwhile, the west is driven entirely by imperialism, this is how their economies perpetuate. In a conflict between nationalists and imperialists, the nationalists are the more progressive force, which is why the ML line is in critical support for Russia.

Even when Russia wins, they do not have the ability to translate this into imperialism. They can try, but the south is already developing beyond the point where they can be taken advantage of as easily. The rise in south-south trade has resulted in development, whereby imperialism is eroding. Russia's weakening of NATO supremacy assists in national liberation movements in the global south, such as in the Alliance of Sahel States.