Russia: Too big to govern?

There has always been an idea that a country could be too big to effectively govern, particularly if certain parts start finding themselves drawn into other cultural orbits. (This is made explicit in recent Civilization games, for those who are as geeky as me.)

There are a few states in the world today that seem intent on proving this idea. One is China, with its troubles in both Xinjiang and Tibet. However, more immediately, there is Russia. Russia is worried about Vladivostok becoming too Asian, it is dealing with an Islamic insurgency in its southern parts, and now Kaliningrad is protesting as well. Granted, Kaliningrad was always a weird exclave anyway, but with such protests on every side of Russia it strikes me that Russia really is too big, or too diffuse at least, to govern.