For those interested in more insight on how Russia now and in the past is not like the west, I have found The Eastern Border podcast to be illuminating. https://theeasternborder.lv/ Look for the episodes prior to the war in Ukraine.
I have people say things like this to me all the time.
My standard response at the moment is something along the lines of "If the house is burning down and water is not flowing from the fire hydrant, you don't stop to measure the water pressue".
The assertion that "you cannot improve something if you cannot measure it" IMHO promotes a lot of unproductive activity.