Russian speaking people, was your country always this nationalist?

Since 2022 I am noticing Russian media is always touting Russian nationalism. When I had a Russian friend, he mentioned nationalism, but he seemed neutral about it. However now that the war is over, I keep seeing nationalist propaganda from Russia, like: "Russian pilots in the sky, was a good day". So the pilots are not flying to defend Russian soil, but they are in the sky because they are Russian. The same is true for the Russian soldiers, they are Russian in the land. When I go to channels like tass, and ria, they both promote Russian nationalism. In the Russian media, the word Russian is so overused to the point that it is not only meant to describe the nationality, but describe the pilots, pilots in the Russian sky who are Russian. It feels like the Russian people are brainwashed into being so proud in their nationality, so the Russian government can do what it wants with the Russian people in the Russian land in the Russian air. Does Russian propaganda was always like this? Because when the Russian empire collapsed, communism collapsed, and capitalism became a norm in Russia, I thought nationalism would be somewhat dead? So the Russian government is playing with their brain to make them prideful into being Russian. It is no wonder why Ukraine is afraid of Russia, because the Russian media will sooner or later promote a patriotic war.