This was a routine dodge in Soviet times. If you brought up human rights violations or the gulag to a Soviet diplomat, you'd get an earful about racial discrimi

This was a routine dodge in Soviet times. If you brought up human rights violations or the gulag to a Soviet diplomat, you'd get an earful about racial discrimination and poverty in the United States. These aren't the "warts of Russian history". Slave labor and terror were the flesh and bones of Russian history for over half a century. If you can dismiss that history with "there is injustice everywhere" handwaving, then you can accept pretty much anything.