Also, Russia in almost all timelines is either this extremely corrupt horrible "democracy" similar to irl, horrendious Communist shithole even worse than irl Stalin, or some extreme nationalist far-right nazi type of deal. Really sick of seeing this cliche, even in timelines where Russia isnt the main focus. I'm not asking for a Switzerland level democracy, just something better.
I dont know much about Russian history i admit, but here are 2 people who could have brought on a much better USSR:
1) Alexei Rykov
Alexei Rykov was a Bolshevik Moderate, who advocated for a peaceful takeover of power from the Tsar. like Lev Kamenev, he remained influential and both those men served as Heads of state after the death of Lenin. He and Kamenev represented a "moderate" faction in the Bolsheviks during and after Lenin, and without Stalin's rise to power in a POD and assuming someone else like Trotsky or Bukharin doesnt assume power, they could have lead a more Peaceful USSR. Perhaps an extension of the USSR that created the Litvinov Protocols rather than Stalin's expansionism. Of course, without Stalin's deadly push for industrialisation and pushing the border Westward, there is the possibility that the Great Patriotic War might have ended differently, but you can always butterfly away Hitler. Just have him die in the Beer Hall Putsch, for example, as a side/main POD.
2) Georgy Malenkov
I want to focus on Malenkov a lot more than Rykov, since we know more about how he would lead the USSR. Georgy Malenkov was a Soviet statesmen who rose through the ranks by cozying up with Stalin, and fighting against the influence of Andrey Zhdanov and disgracing Georgy Zhukov after WW2, altough he was among the 5 Strongest Soviet Statesmen in WW2 in the State Defence Commitee. Malenkov is described as: "Malenkov stressed universal values of science and engineering, and proposed to promote technological experts to the highest positions in the Soviet administrative elite" in his wikipedia page, and he is usually considered a Technocrat. He was also PERSONALLY involved in the Soviet nuclear and missile programs during and after WW2. He succeeded Stalin as Premier after Stalin's death, before being replaced by Khruschev. He was involved in the Anti-Party Group conspiracy alongside Molotov and Kaganovich. Later in life (After his fall from power and sidelining) he converted to Orthodoxy, and he was a reader and choir singer at his last years.
Now, What are the potential inclinations? Imagine a Soviet Premier, who defeats Khruschev and is personally technocratic and pragmatic (Of course, to a degree), with personal interest in the Soviet Missile Program (Literally overseeing it for a few years)? Well, here is your ticket at a more successful Soviet Space Program, possibly with Soviets beating America to the Moon. Not to mention, the Soviet Economy, which was doing decent enough, could be created a lot better here with more pragmatic, reformist and technocratic policies. The main reason Gorbachev's reforms failed can be summed up as "Too Little, Too Late", and while i dont expect Malenkov to reform to such an extend (Especially in the context of Glasnost), a great deal of reform would happen. Another result could be a differently structured Warsaw Pact, with stuff like Polish Thaw or Budapest Revolution being handled differently. We might not have seen Soviet tanks rolling through Budapest. Which brings me to my next point: The Berlin Wall. I am not that knowledged about it i must admit, but Malenkov might have chosen a different aproach instead. Perhaps he could have hyperfocused investments into East Berlin, making it a lot more appealing to stop the brain drain but more importantly, the worker drain. Maybe he could have negotiated a more strict border control options with the US and NATO and come to a compromise, who knows. On another note, Malenkov would have a much harder falling-out with Mao and Enver Hoxha, due to his probably more Anti-Stalinist rhetoric. Assuming he manages to stay in power for a decent lenght of time, the entire Cuban Missile Crisis might not have happened. Maybe the USSR forgoes any idea of supporting communists in America (Except for Castro whom did his revolution without much Soviet Aid at the start) and instead focuses more on Asia and Africa. Perhaps Malenkov has an alternate relationship with Israel (All i could find about it was the fact that Malenkov superwised the Doctors Plot and the end of Jewish Anti-Fascist Militia, altough both were ordered by Stalin so it is hard to say). I would love to see an Arab World supported by the USA and Israel supported by USSR. Maybe the USS Liberty incident is similar to this world's Cuban Missile Crisis? For further points, i dont know. I really have no idea how the internal politics of the USSR worked post-Khruschev or even Post-Stalin. Would Brezhnev still get into power? Who knows. Either way, Malenkov leading the USSR is (In my opinion) More "realistic" or more accuratly more "grounded" than Rykov leading the USSR, but both are pretty good opportunities to make a USSR that is actually half-decent. Maybe modern day USSR would be an authoritarian, somewhat right-infringing state with a stagnating but still pretty big economy, and whichoccasionally threathens it's neighbours but doesnt do stuff like Chechen Wars, Invasion of Georgia, Crimea and of course Ukraine. Kind of like modern day Turkey, ironically.
What are your thoughts? I would say that i dont know a lot about modern history, so the things i said might be dumb but i digress. We are here to learn, after all.