I had other negative experiences which formed my opinion , eg the taxi mafia at the airport in st petersburg , paying in $ only ,50 to anywhere a lot of hidden guns, heavy security at the hotels , moscow a lot of scared people at higher levels in industry , , on a few occasions some pressure for deliveries to go thro this named logistics company, of course expensive etc etc .Did a few 2 weeks missions in Moscou several years ago. In construction, means not with the elite.... But saw and learned a few things.
Concerning those here, there may some dubious characters among them, but I don't think it is a majority.
I reported back to partners what was going on in their production unit , they closed operation .
A lot of western companies pulled out bcs of the difficulties of doing business there pre war .
Not a pleasant place Imo.