Of course the US is not the cultural capital of the world, but hey, I am not an Apollo and not Spinoza, but my wife loves me. You have to take the country in its entirety. I do appreciate the Russian culture, but there is no chance in hell I could live there today.
Furthermore, things you are so fond of in Russian literature and movies... they are not held in high respect in that country today. The society is largely cynical, cruel, aimless, rude. If you heard the way they talk in the streets you would lose your respect for that population. Coarse language is everywhere, something that did not exist before.
A couple of days ago an incident happened. Four young guys were behaving stupidly at one of the many Eternal Lights that exist there to commemorate the fallen soldiers. Usually it is a gas burner.
An older man apparently asked them to stop. They beat him bad, and held over the fire, frying him alive.
