Even after two centuries in what is now the Ukraine, the Russians never really accepted them as equals and actively encouraged their exit and expulsion in the mid to late 1880's, just as south central North Dakota was opening to settlement.
They came in droves. Many of the counties in that area of the state are majority Germans from Russia. To this day, they are a very conservative lot. Pat Buchanan was actually getting votes in the double digit range here when he was struggling to break 1/2 of 1% in the rest of the country. Unlike your friend, they do not identify with Russians at all and, hence the name "Germans from Russia."
Some of their close cousins were still in the Ukraine when Hitler invaded. Initially, they were welcoming. Some even furnished military units to the German army. But Hitler was an idiot with his ideas of racial purity. After what was then nearly 300 years of living among Russians and Ukrainians, few of them met the nazi definition of racial purity, so they turned on the nazis with a vengeance.
Still, Stalin never forgave them. There were mass deportations to Siberia after he reestablished control and those who were able fled to the United States, many to North Dakota where they had waiting relatives.
My best friend since my elementary school days was of this stock. When we visited his relatives, their views on politics were so conservative that I would look like your typical San Franciscan at a TEA party rally by comparison.
Russians have wonderful yogurt. They actually invented the stuff. I had some one day in Moscow and I’ve been craving it ever since. You could tell it had about 7 million calories and 900 grams of carbs in each tablespoon. My gosh that was pure heaven, that yogurt. And I don’t even care for yogurt.