In the 90s it was filmed a lot of movies about how former KGB agents want to take revenge for the defeat in Cold War. Soviet generals were bearded, uniforms were ridiculous, russian language was terrible, the plot was crap usually, Dolph Lundgren was young and beautiful :) We loved to watch these movies by large companies of students, it was a lot of fun!
Hilarious video to this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg7E081BW6k
About " they like to read about how horrible they are". US citizens don't always have a good press too. What ridiculous prejudices about youself have you met in your travels?
And congratulations on the success, the post is extremely good!