“If that sounds relatively cheap, then remember that the average (median) American earns 12 times more ($71,000/year) than the average Russian ($5,500/yr).”
Might help if you stop using 1990 numbers for Russia.
The latest numbers I can find -- here, here and here -- are from February 2023.
They show Russian median income of ~₽42,000 (rubles) per month.
In February 2023, the ruble was worth about 70 per dollar, making a median salary of ₽42,000 per month about $600, or $7,200 per year.
Today the ruble has fallen to 110 per dollar, making that same ₽42,000/month worth only $380 or about $4,600 per year.
Today we can expect most Russians make somewhat more rubles than they did in 2023, which is where my estimate of $5,500 median annual income came from.
In the Moscow region, median wages were around ₽50,000 per month in 2023, which at 110 rubles/dollar is $450 or $5,500 per year.
My figure of $7,000/yr. for Moscow income is not median but rather average household income, which includes people like Vladimir Putin who make much more and thus increase the average, but not the median.
Median means half earn more, half earn less.
Map of Russian median incomes as of 2019:
Darker colors are higher incomes.
Note Moscow is the darkest -- highest income -- in the country: