The article is devoted to the analysis of discussions related to the assessment of both the ideological consequences of post-communist transformations in modern Russia, and the peculiarities of interpretation of the heritage of Karl Marx and the communist tradition in domestic and international philosophical and political discourses. As the base text the collection of articles and essays of leading Russian philosophers and scholars еdited by the publishing house World of Philosophy was chosen. They seek to critically analyze numerous myths and misconceptions regarding the nature of communist ideas and the historical features of the implementation of the socialist experiment in Russia. The article presents an attempt to make a comparative analysis of the domestic experience of analyzing the evolution of the communist tradition with the various discussions that have been taking place in Western Europe and the USA for several decades. In the context of the analysis of the texts presented in the collection, the main features of the polemics of Russian scholars with anti-communist rhetoric widespread in the West and their reasoned criticism of the centuries-old traditions of Russophobia, rooted in Western political culture, dating back to the 18th century, are highlighted. Modern Russophobia is defined as a combination of political and ideological factors stimulating the processes of consolidation of those political groups that, using traditional anti-communist slogans, actively oppose the desire of the modern Russian leadership to pursue a sovereign policy independent of the West.