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a) Because Russia was a superpower for only about 50 years, and even then, it was on shaky ground. People tend to resent a superpower.
b) Russia never made any claim to some kind of moral superiority or global leadership outside its little sphere of influence, and again, that sphere only existed mostly after WWII to 1990. The US, on the other hand, has always been "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave", rah rah!
c) The US tends to police and bully the world, not just what technically has been considered its sphere of influence, it's "back door" (Latin America). Russia generally only policed and bullied E Europe with occasional "adventures" in places like Afghanistan.
d) The world stupidly bought into the Soviet propaganda about happy nationalities. Re: US--again; claims to being "Land of the Free" caused US to be held to a higher standard, and scrutinized more. Also, those Hollywood Westerns didn't do the US's image vis-a-vis Indian affairs any favors. Conversely, Siberia's (and European Russia's) Native peoples didn't have a similar PR department exhibiting their plight to the world. In the Soviet period, info re: ethnic affairs in Russia was tightly controlled. US = freedom of information, therefore it's been an open book, relatively speaking.
e) Most of the world is and always has been ignorant about Russia and its expansionist/colonialist/imperialist (choose one) history.
f) It's easier to hide your empire if its contiguous to your own home turf. The world's other empires belonging to European powers were distant colonies from the source of political power.
g) Iron curtains are very useful for hiding all manner of human rights atrocities.
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