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I've been to Moscow (2011) and can vouch the fact that once you leave a very tight circle around the city center, the place is a dump. What struck me the most was all the holes in the roadways where some construction crew started work years ago and then just left the open hole there. They put a barrel in the street and you drive around it.

I stayed in the "best" hotel for tourists in Moscow, and my guide said never to go out alone or go across the street because it was overrun by packs of wild dogs. We stayed almost next door to the 1980 Olympic village, which was a literal pile of rubble from lack of care. Our bus broke down on the highway at one point near a small patch of woods and we were amazed at all the cars stopping nearby and so the drivers could run into the woods to do their business. This happens because they have no friendly businesses or gas stations where you can stop in an use the facilities.

I came away amazed that I'd visited what was once the #2 superpower in the world and it was like going back to the 1970s, at best. This bridge is ok, but there wasn't one thing on my visit which impressed me about Moscow, or Russia, except one World War II museum with tons of tanks. Even there, tourists had to poop in a concrete hole in the ground because that was the best they could do for bathrooms.

“Even there, tourists had to poop in a concrete hole in the ground because that was the best they could do for bathrooms.”

Have had a few friends post about those in SE Asia, to which their “progressive” friends ooh and aah about the “squatty potty”.

Actually heard a commercial on the radio (in America) a year and a half ago or so advertising them.