Because they're overcompensating. One has to have some sort of a grudge against the world to survive in an unhealthy political climate, and short height is quite a good reason for holding such a grudge. Besides, in order to overcome one's lack of confidence in connection to one's shortness, one may develop some other aspects of one's charisma - by being a good speaker, for example, although that can't be said of most Russian and Soviet leaders. Many of them couldn't even speak Russian properly.
Note how the shorter the leader, the more aggressive and controlling he often is. One of the most brutal and perverse figures in NKVD, Nikolai Yezhov, nicknamed the Bloody Dwarf, was 151 cm tall, and had a knack for being particularly cruel to attractive people of above average height.
Stalin was actually Georgian, and he was considerably shorter than 168 cm. Lenin was part-Jewish and part-Kalmuck, both of which are generally shorter than the average Russian. Still, large numbers of short people in the government aren't exclusive to Russia or the USSR. Say, Joseph Goebbels was exceptionally short as well. Napoleon. Nicholas Sarkozy.
Medvedev is very short, and this has been noted by the Russian media as well. That's not a good omen, but let's hope he'll be better than other shorties.
P.S. You forgot Brezhnev, who was pretty tall.
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