[Goose]

I said Nationalistic.  Not patriotic.  They are not the same thing.

Agree they are not the same, but exactly what each "means" is a bit unclear. If you run it down on the internet (source of all truth) it says that back in history they were considered the same. Even today Webster's calls them synonyms. The "drift" in the meaning of nationalism is possibly exemplified ins the following statement by Sydney J. Harris.
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does.”

I don't think either applies to Russia. Russians want to be proud because they are Russians, independent of their "country". Even today, the Russian Federation contains many ethnic groups that are not Russian. Those people are generally looked down upon. When the Soviet Union broke up, it was assumed by Yeltsin (and just about everybody else) that "Russia" was first among equals. Gorbachev believed all the republics would stay in the USSR because it was "the right thing to do".  He was wrong. Yeltsin believed that the three "Slavic" republics would realize their economic interests were so entangled they could not remain separate. He was wrong. Both of these ideas are very "Russian" attitudes. Ukraine's great "sin" was rejecting that union. The Russians have always considered themselves a superior people apart in their own country, even when their dictator was Georgian and their Army was significantly from the East of the Urals. Putin understands this. He doesn't care what the "minorities" think. So calling it nationalism is a bit misleading IMHO. It isn't the "country", it is racial.

[Goose]

I said Nationalistic.  Not patriotic.  They are not the same thing.

Agree they are not the same, but exactly what each "means" is a bit unclear. If you run it down on the internet (source of all truth) it says that back in history they were considered the same. Even today Webster's calls them synonyms. The "drift" in the meaning of nationalism is possibly exemplified ins the following statement by Sydney J. Harris.
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does.”

I don't think either applies to Russia. Russians want to be proud because they are Russians, independent of their "country". Even today, the Russian Federation contains many ethnic groups that are not Russian. Those people are generally looked down upon. When the Soviet Union broke up, it was assumed by Yeltsin (and just about everybody else) that "Russia" was first among equals. Gorbachev believed all the republics would stay in the USSR because it was "the right thing to do".  He was wrong. Yeltsin believed that the three "Slavic" republics would realize their economic interests were so entangled they could not remain separate. He was wrong. Both of these ideas are very "Russian" attitudes. Ukraine's great "sin" was rejecting that union. The Russians have always considered themselves a superior people apart in their own country, even when their dictator was Georgian and their Army was significantly from the East of the Urals. Putin understands this. He doesn't care what the "minorities" think. So calling it nationalism is a bit misleading IMHO. It isn't the "country", it is racial.