Well, that's not entirely true. Most of Soviet Russia had the image of Stalin as "Uncle Joe" who cared for and loved all the Soviet peoples. When shit went down with crackdowns, gulags, purging, etc., they blamed all of the local elites and bureaucrats. However, it was really Stalin who was ordering most of these things to happen, frequently purging high ranks of officers, factory managers, etc.
The Russian people as a whole loved Stalin for the most part while he was alive. Even Chinese Communists looked to him as a leader of the global movement, breaking away from the Soviets after his death. Public opinion in Russia turned after his death and de-Stalinization.