Hi, Rhys Jaggar 🙂 thanks for stopping by, glad to see you!
I cannot say that the 90s were more difficult than the post-war time for our parents, and even more so, the war time for our grandparents. But there’s a huge difference in perception.
I mean, it’s one thing to know that an external enemy has attacked your country – then it’s a disaster, but a clear goal is visible and your actions are clear.
It’s quite another thing to live in obscurity, when each neighbor survives on its own, when there is no state, no law, everyone who can escape from the country is fleeing, and the government is transferring resources under foreign control. The Russian people were not too spoiled by the good life before this period 🙂 so poverty did not frighten us. The uncertainty of the future was scary.