He said something similar about Crimea being part of the "historical Russia" and now Ukraine too.
It doesn't take much research to know how the russians feel about the Soviet Union..just ask them!
About Trust: >> The Kremlin has said Russia has no plans to launch a fresh attack on Ukraine and that the West appears to have convinced itself of Moscow's aggressive intentions based on what it calls false Western media stories.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-rues-soviet-colla...
(And that other Soviet leaders betrayed Russia by allowing the Soviet Union to fall.)
Putin’s propaganda justifications for his wars of aggression aren't particularly coherent, but I don't think they are intended to form a logical theory of history so much as a powerful emotional appeal that neither invites nor rewards intellectual analysis.