I grew up in Russia (obligatory fuck Putin), and my mom would make borscht every couple of weeks. While I never had the exact recipe, and I don’t measure things anymore, this recipe is as close as it gets to my mom’s soup. The only difference is she would add a green bell pepper instead of the tomatoes.
It’s a bit involved (and your kitchen will look like you murdered someone because of the beets), but it’s worth the effort!
That’s what horseradish is for. Horseradish was born to make borscht better.