Why is Russia referenced a lot in society?

-That which is asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.- Christopher Hitchens

It's not.  Or it wasn't.  It really didn't get any more "references" in general society than other places in the world.

Take it from a historian.

If you're over 40, you already know. If not, study what things were like in the decades of the Cold War.

Despite our many pretenses of being "global" thinkers, many of us in the Western world actually see things through the perspective of a narrow wedge on the global "pie" chart.

Think about everything you learned in history during your school days... think about how it all began in Antiquity in Mesopotamia...spent the Classical Era in the Mediterranean and then exploded through the "civilized" world on the backs of Christians with laws written in Latin...

Russia is not part of that tradition and thus seen as an "outsider" society by those of us who've grown up thinking our Western/Judeo/Christian heritage is the benchmark for the Universe...

Much like how the Jews are seen as "outsiders" in almost every Western nation, Russia has long carried the mystique of being "like us, but not us".  Their values are rooted in different traditions, yet most of their ambitions are the same.  Thus, like many who don't share our "approved" history and value systems, they are often referenced in history as "antagonists" and "others"...

I’m gonna k ì l l this fly 🪰 that is eating my eyeball with his little a s ś h óle

Russia is biggest nation in world.