It's Soviet Patriotism, not communism. What made the Soviet Union "great". If you've never watched it, I would highly suggest watching the 1984 version of the Soviet National Anthem on YouTube. The lyrics, are undoubtedly communist and Leninist in Nature, but watch the footage... It's of the Soviet Military, Lumberman, Miners, Drillers, Soldiers, Cosmonauts, Farmers, Sailors, Doctors, all "unified" as one people under the red banner. I am a right wing Conservative, as anti-soviet as one can get! But you can FEEL the patriotism and National Pride oozing from that footage. That is what Putin is trying to recreate.
Putin is actually a genius, more than what people like you and I would give him credit for. To instill a national pride like he has done using soviet heroes of old like Yuri Gagarin, Vasily Zeitzeh, etc. is a good idea.
What he is doing is no different than what I wish we could be doing. Instilling National Pride with heroes like Washington and Jefferson, Lee and Grant, Roosevelt and Kennedy, Reagan and Patton. I wish we were half as patriotic as the Russians are right now. We would be so much better off.