The left has turned Russia into America's biggest threat in their minds .The progressive left supports the northern world's opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. They correctly see Russia as an aggressive autocracy .
Yet they support some of Russia's major backers like China ,Iran ,Venezuela. All those nations are also repressive aggressive autocracies .

To me the reason is obvious . They concocted the lie that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election .They see Putin and Trump as interchangeable. Putin not only invaded a nation the left pretends is democratic .He also disparaged LGBTQ++XYZ rights, multiculturalism, immigration, and said that “the liberal idea” has “outlived its purpose.”

Liberalism 'has outlived its purpose' — President Putin speaks exclusively to the Financial Times - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCxDh2rf21E)

Before there was Putin the left embraced Russia. They marched in protest against US efforts to deter Russia. Now they are no longer the doves. They are the war party .

There are still some progressive lefties who buck the trend . Noam Chomsky comes to mind. He went from calling Trump worse than Hitler to praising Trump for suggesting a negotiated settlement to the Ukraine war.

]Glenn Greenwald on Twitter: "Noam Chomsky, in an interview this week, says "fortunately" there is "one Western statesman of stature" who is pushing for a diplomatic solution to the war in Ukraine rather than looking for ways to fuel and prolong it. "His name is Donald J. Trump," Chomsky says. WATCH: https://t.co/z3Cug8kFHS" / Twitter (https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1520751923355398144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1520773078644576257%7Ctwgr% 5E6642c17b2d3bc0594c623daa3f3b1b03ce9a645e%7Ctwcon %5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.realclearpolitics.com%2F video%2F2022%2F05%2F01%2Fnoam_chomsky_says_trump_i s_the_one_western_statesman_pushing_for_diplomacy_ to_end_war_in_ukraine.html)

So when it comes to Russia, the progressive left's view is US might is right . But for the rest of the world ,US might is the evil empire.

Meanwhile for China's dictator for life Xi ,the war in Ukraine is a win win. If Russia wins then a China ally has pushed west against NATO. If Russia loses then Russia becomes even more dependent on China.

Putin has looked eastward as Europe rejected Russian and Putin overtures to be incorporated in the European post cold war culture and security structure. For China ,Russia has the resources that China lacks . Western policies are making China one of the few customers for Russia .
China will be a more formidable foe allied with Russia. But China's power (after the misunderstanding about balloons ) is a good thing in the progressive left's dream of a multi-polar world .