Isn't that true of, say, western Europe too, perhaps leading Russia by 50 years or so?
Western Europe was not too different at the start of the medieval period but then evolved in a different direction. The King's Two Bodies by Ernst Kantorowicz is a good read on this.
There's been quite a trend in the long term to democracy and the like if with blips. Like in this graph of countries that are democacies, 200 years ago 2.5%, fifty years ago 30%, now 61%. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/countries-democracies-non...
I get the impression Russians would like a more modern system but have a job shifting Putin. But he won't be around for ever.
Probably not. Russian history for the last several hundred years is a series of kings, emperors, and dictators. Massacres and purges.
The entire peasantry was only freed from slavery 150 years ago. Being ruled by hereditary monarchs and dictators for so long has fundamentally changed Russian culture to be vastly different from the West.
IMO it would take a radical culture shift for Russia to join the West.