Their sphere of influence shrunk because the USSR lost a lot on split up and became the smaller Russia, their economy was in the doldrums for over a decade, and

Their sphere of influence shrunk because the USSR lost a lot on split up and became the smaller Russia, their economy was in the doldrums for over a decade, and most of what they had was a corrupt oligarchy centered on natural resources. Why should Western companies not be able to develop the countries bordering Russia if the countries want them to come in? The problem is that when Western companies come in to Ukraine etc with rules and audits etc, it makes it tougher for the corrupt oligarchs with ties to Russia to operate and extract their wealth through corruption. If these countries adopt western norms in elections/governance, and adopt western business practices, it leaves very little room for the old corrupt guard of Russia/Soviet origins to operate and squeezes them out of any piece of the pie. That's why Putin is at odds with it.