We have been living in the American century, a lot of our outlooks have been shaped by American Film and Culture, I am not saying it is all bad but Americans look at the world in an American light, very inward looking, only about 25% hold passports.
Every American war movie shows the Americans winning the 2nd world war all on their own. I am not saying their role should be diminished because it was extraordinary. What I am saying there is a seemingly deliberate policy to downplay the Russian role.
Four out of five German losses were on the Eastern (Russian) front. The Western allies faced about 60 German Divisions, that by wars end were still functional albeit battered. The Russians completely destroyed about 160 German Divisions. Estimates are the Soviet Union lost 28 million people.
There has never been a war as savage as that in the Soviet Union. Hitler told his soldiers they would not be held accountable for any crime against the Russians, theft, rape, murder, fill your boots. What was the only response for the Russians, they were not fighting for Communism, they were fighting for their existence, men and women. Stalin used pre revolution heroes and awards to tap into this patriotism. The Russians refer to WW@ as the great patriotic war.
Russia was devastated by WW2, pretty much every family lost members, because of those losses and devastation WW2 means more to them. Putin had a brother die in the siege of Leningrad, His Father was a soldier there. Russia and Putin will take seriously. That is why NATO creeping closer to Russia's borders and running military exercises on the border is so threatening to the Russians. It actually strengthens Putin.