Can you explain your view a little more?

I thought that modern Russian literature is generally thought of as being kick-started by Pushkin and his generation.

Yes, and Pushkin was a francophone - most of Russian noblemen were. As were most writers of the 19th century: if you flip through War and Peace, it is easy to notice that much of the book is written plainly in French.

Hence literary Russian is very heavy with borrowings from French, which became so ingrained into the fabric of the language that native speakers don't even notice.