You can take a stroll about Moscow anytime you fancy. Search a video site for something like "прогулка по москве 2023". That simply means 'a walk around Moscow 2023.' Here's [1] one from 5 days ago. One could describe what you see in many ways, but a complete economic collapse is probably not one of them.

As for the war, look at the leaks; you're expected to. That's why they're not being given the Twitter Files treatment. There was a conscious decision to cover them and regularly emphasize points such as the predictions for Ukraine's counter offensive. Watch how the media narrative on Ukraine is (and will continue to) suddenly shift. We seem to be hitting that 'lab leak' "messaging" inflection point with Ukraine. The Washington Post is now even running an opinion piece suggesting NATO could bypass Ukraine and directly negotiate with Russia, making some substantial concessions, in an effort to try to end the war.

The problem with pensions is mostly about fertility. Like most of the developed world, Russia's fertility rate is abysmal. So you have an ever-growing group of older individuals who are supposed to be supported by an ever smaller group of younger individuals. It's the reason retirement ages are going up everywhere. Russia increased theirs from 60 to 65. In the US and Norway full retirement is 67, France just bumped theirs from 62 to 64, and so on. In low fertility countries, rich and poor alike, expect retirement age to gradually approach life expectancy. A sub-replacement fertility means there is no equilibrium point. Your youth population is constantly shrinking, and trending towards zero. Of course bloody wars aren't helping on this front.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tD1crjaeYQ

[2] - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/04/19/nato-coul...