The West often indulges in painting Russia in the darkest colors as if it were a destabilizing force when it should give Moscow credit for working tirelessly to secure peace in the post-Soviet states, a Polish newspaper said.

© Sputnik / Vitaly Podvitski Political Contagion

Unhealthy and unfounded anti-Russian sentiment is hard to root out since some in the highest echelons of power in Brussels continue to cultivate it, the media outlet asserted. But if Moscow's policies are closely examined one will arrive at a valid conclusion:

"Russia has done more for peace in its neighboring regions than any other country, while some other nations tried to destabilize them," Obserwator Polityczny noted. The media outlet offered an array of cases ranging from Russia's response to NATO's blatant military buildup to providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine to prove the point.

Like all forms of #racism Russophobia is driven by ignorance, insecurity and envy of other people's achievements. #justsaying — Alexander Nekrassov (@StirringTrouble) 6 августа 2015

The Polish media outlet asserted that the three Baltic nations long mistreated the Russian-speaking minority living in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. If the image of Russia promoted by the West were true, Moscow would have tried to help by military means. This evidently did not happen.

Russia chose to "issue Russian speakers living in the Baltic states passports and to offer free education at universities in Saint Petersburg and Moscow," Obserwator Polityczny stated. This non-violent approach is indicative of what Moscow always sees as a preferred course of action.

Amount of panicky Russophobia in DC and London is quite telling. — Christian G. (@InEgo_) 5 августа 2015

Russia has been a vocal opponent of NATO's continued expansion, but it has never shown an offensive military response to the alliance's flagrant buildup, the media outlet said. "Moscow confined itself to protests justifiably pointing out that bloc thinking is artificial in a Europe free from confrontation," the publication explained.

"NATO has come closer to [Russia's borders], not the other way round. Surely this was also 'bad' Russia's fault although the West was deaf when Vladimir Putin offered to foster cooperation from Portugal to Vladivostok," Obserwator Polityczny said referring to the common lack of logic (or double standards) in the Western approach to security in Europe and Russia's stance on the issue.

Russia has also been a reliable trading partner in its dealings with Western countries. For instance, Moscow invested in costly infrastructure projects to secure uninterrupted supply of fuel to its European customers. "Do evil empires really act like that?" the publication asked.

When it comes to the civil war in Ukraine, Russia has been delivering the largest amount of humanitarian aid to those suffering in Donbass and has taken in the largest number of refugees.

"Surely no one wants to notice Russia's humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since spreading lies about Crimea is more important," Obserwator Polityczny noted, adding that the majority of Crimeans voted to reunite with Russia.