AFAIK, in 19th century, esp. after the Napoleonic invasion of Russia it wasn't as hardcore as that. Aristocracy spoke a fair amount of Russian among themselves,

AFAIK, in 19th century, esp. after the Napoleonic invasion of Russia it wasn't as hardcore as that. Aristocracy spoke a fair amount of Russian among themselves, but still mixed in a lot of French (and IIRC some accidental Latin). I could be wrong though.