I view it more through the lenses of goal and usable method differences.
Yes, You can say that these ‘eastern allies’ are more ‘allies’ than the ‘westerners’ due to ridiculous losses (and intense fighting) that they’ve suffered (It is still an ongoing debate, ranging from tens to several tens of millions).
And this discussion is… probably going to be very off topic…
Summary
Knowing westerners, their goal for the most part was to restore peace, and ensure a democratic evolutionary path for the world nations (Well, that’s the end for British Empire, eh? Not to mention that US trying to have some control over South American nations).
USSR was trying to build communism… I leave this… clue, for You to discover more, if You’re interested in what that is…
There is also a pragmatic and technical detail - are You aware of the existence of Baltic nations (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania)?
As a person who lives there… well… I can at least say, that the annexation of these nations into the USSR was one of the reasons why USSR fell apart in the first place… (You’re free to debate of course, if You feel You’re well versed into the nuances of the eastern bloc)
Either way, folks living down there didn’t really see democracy, better side of socialism at best.
I’ll refrain from discussing more, as this could possibly end up getting flagged for weird reasons.
Of course, there is another, alt-history nuance (HoI players, unite!) what if USSR decided to liberate the world from capitalism?
What if we get “Unthinkable Operation” (The WW3 showdown between western and eastern allies) campaign (And I, would like this campaign Very much)?
What about “Unholy Alliance” (M-R pact turns into full-fledged alliance)?
So far, some of these alt-h campaigns could be set up in custom games to some degree (Normandy allies versus Berlin allies),
axis + “eastern allies” versus western allies,
and mods (but these don’t give experience, for now, at least).