My interpretation of 'almost' is quite different from yours. To me it sounds like "Russians are genetically preconditioned, but I didn't say that". Of course he did. Try replacing Russians with Afro-Americans or Jews and see if it sounds okay to you.
As for how a Russian sees it, remember that 85 years ago Germans decided that we are racially inferior and they need our living space[0][1]. 26 million of Soviet citizens died as the result[2]. Try comparing that number with the number of deaths in any present day war. Personally, my grandmother survived genocidal siege of Leningrad[3], where a million of civilians starved to death or died during evacuation, and another relative survived in a Nazi death camp.[4]
That should explain the 'nazi' part of my comment.
As for 'russophobe', that comes from the rest of his comment. It is factually incorrect and disparaging to Russians. I can unpack that if it's needed.
Here is a fun bit: note the use of the same word 'almost' to downplay Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917 along with rebellions in previous centuries.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensraum#Racial_ideology
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalplan_Ost
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties_of_the...