Exactly. I mean that just goes to show you how bad Russia was in terms of freedom and wealth distribution for her people but it is clear that as bad as Putin is under western standards - I don’t think the Russians have ever been freer or more prosperous or even less fearful than they are under Putin currently.
That's questionable, but it's a matter of pure academic interest, I believe. Probably, the reign of Alexandr II "The Liberator", or the Nicolas II's was better.
Yeltsyn's Russia was a failed state, unable to collect the taxes, uphold the law, keep the infrastructure in order and to do the other basic government jobs. It didn't opress the people also, like the USSR had done, but such a country isn't a free one.