Yes we have cooperated some with the Russians but not much during that time frame. Can you give me some sources for your claim they were in on the con?
It just stands to reason.
You could read between the lines here. Russia thought the idea was worth spending some money on, but they had lots of domestic problems more important.
If they called us out how would it benefit them?
P.S. I think we did land unmanned craft on the moon and dropped some payloads too