most of the people you're talking about only support russia critically, as in support their anti-imperialist efforts.

i personally appreciate russia's aid of iran against the united states and israel, alongside their support for cuba in this inhumane blockade by the united states and their fight against the ISIS in the sahel. that's basically all i can appreciate them for. a lot of what they do is messed up

some people are of the opinion that the russian war on ukraine is an anti-imperialist act as ukraine was joining nato, but i disagree with this out of principle as i'm against all aggressive wars. i can see where they're coming from, but i disagree with it.

a lot of people have this misconception that these claimed "tankies" are russia fans in everything they do, but in reality, their support for russia is quite limited. i recommend giving these people a good listen to get immersed in what they really believe in and clear your misconceptions