This isn't the days gone by, or wasn't until Putin got to power and passion fingers got elected to the white house.
The west is and NATO is and has never been a threat to Russia in the traditional sense. The powers to be in Russia are not stupid and know this.
It is a threat with ideas and freedom, and in some sense their culture, a bit like how the senior Islamists see us now. As such they use various means to push their agenda, using the military threat scenario is a old one but a good one.