Which ignores how Putin has made repeated references to the borders of the Russian Empire as justification. Take Putin's essay, On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, for example. He mentions the Russian Empire more than the USSR and talks of the "Ukrainization in the Ukrainian SSR " during the "1920's-1930's" and how "Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians". He couldn't make a claim to Ukraine based on the UdSSR if Ukraine was developed as a separate entity during the UdSSR's existence. Russia today is more comparable to Imperial Russia than to the UdSSR. Even then, the justification lies more in the existence of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, rather than historical claims.
The CPC, unfortunately, does not cling to Mao. Celebrations of his birthday have been largely scaled back, there are no large pictures of Mao at their congresses or on most of their propaganda, and he is rarely brought up in newspapers. Mao's little red book is largely seen as nostalgia. The CPC is big on "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" instead of "Mao Zedong Thought".
Which ignores how Putin has made repeated references to the borders of the Russian Empire as justification. Take Putin's essay, On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians, for example. He mentions the Russian Empire more than the USSR and talks of the "Ukrainization in the Ukrainian SSR " during the "1920's-1930's" and how "Ukrainization was often imposed on those who did not see themselves as Ukrainians". He couldn't make a claim to Ukraine based on the UdSSR if Ukraine was developed as a separate entity during the UdSSR's existence. Russia today is more comparable to Imperial Russia than to the UdSSR. Even then, the justification lies more in the existence of ethnic Russians in Ukraine, rather than historical claims.
The CPC, unfortunately, does not cling to Mao. Celebrations of his birthday have been largely scaled back, there are no large pictures of Mao at their congresses or on most of their propaganda, and he is rarely brought up in newspapers. Mao's little red book is largely seen as nostalgia. The CPC is big on "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era" instead of "Mao Zedong Thought".