Russians VS The World?

When you talk about some of hockey greats, why isn't a Russian mentioned? You hear about Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, Orr, Howe, Sawchuk ect. but you never hear of a "Russian Great". Why is that? I understand during the Cold War, it'd be hard to admit the Russians were better than the North Americans at something. Am I wrong for wanting to give Russians credit at something or are the Russians just not "greats"?