Sure but this isn't the USSR anymore. I don't know to what degree the relevant things are different. For one, Russia is nominally capitalist -- their properti

Sure but this isn't the USSR anymore. I don't know to what degree the relevant things are different. For one, Russia is nominally capitalist -- their properties are a bit iffy at best though. Compared to the USSR, Russia is considerably more open and free. And that might be just enough for good ideas to flourish and good R&D to happen. Intellectual freedom and capitalism are more of a gradient than categorical. China is another example of this. They have been successful in some of their R&D efforts despite not being a Western liberal democracy. China has in fact produced their own chips, even if they aren't as good as what Intel and AMD are capable of.