They're all of the above plus brainwashed and with a very common revanchism sentiment.
Basically it's not hard to sell Nazis in Ukraine and "brotherly nation, that needs our help" narrative in Russia. The foundations are there, you just have to tap into them.
I literally was brought up on the idea that Ukraine is just the "border", not a real place. Kyiv is just another Russian city... and Ukrainians are just "polonized Russians". At 14 I was literally going to forums and argued against anyone claiming Ukrainian identity being separate.
And "Russian people that could be either lied and manipulated" is very condescending.