You are terribly wrong about this. The western part of the USSR was occupied by nazi Germany and most of the industrial facilities of the USSR  were located in the west (Ukraine and Belarus) before the war. Those territories suffered from a lot of destruction and millions of people in the USSR died during the war (around 20 million). Saying that the USSR "enjoyed the luxury of surviving WWII" is simply stupid and ignorant.
The USSR didn't "enjoy" anything.

Russia can't beat USA and China in terms of GDP, demographics, technologies and military power. A global economic crisis won't change this.
Unfortunately Russia will remain as a threat for the global peace and security.