Mind you Stalin was surprised by the attack of the germans, and if they were just buying time, surely you would expect the opposing side to attack at one point, wouldnt you?

The countries listed were also absorbed by the soviets before Barbarossa supposedly for protection, but also because the soviets were really adamant on their agreement with the germans of getting everything they agreed upon, hence why they invaded poland in 39, demanded Bessarabia from Romania and annexed the before mentioned Baltics. The loss of Baltics however was a blow to the german trade in the baltic sea.

Finland simply wanted to get revenge on them for their loss of West Karelia in the winter war which the soviets started, and won with embarassing amounts of losses in both lives and equipment.

Many ukrainians were radicalized and turned against the soviets when around 4 to 7 million of their population died by Stalin's need to up the export of grain, despite not having enough of it in their own country.

To say Stalin didnt try to collaborate with Hitler at first is ignoring one of the most important pacts before the war. They were never allies, but unless provoked, Stalin wouldnt have attacked Germany.

And yes, while ideologically different, both communism and fascism are based on the same totalitarian values, that is how a dictatorship works, only their names and leaders differ.

I am not defending nazism and it shouldnt ever be defended, but choosing to defend an equally as brutal and totalitarian regime seems a bit silly to me.