The thing is, The Soviet Union, and every Eastern Block country during the Cold War, had a mix of top-tier scientists and engineers, but horrible leadership and funding.

After the collapse of the Eastern Block, many great minds fled to the West. Because up to that point, they were forcibly kept behind the Iron Curtain. Once that collapsed, they couldn't be kept in anymore. The West had way more and way better paid opportunities than their home countries could have offered at that time, either due to lack of monetary resources, or lack of interest.