Musket:

Actually, there are a couple of decent Russian brewed beers now.

Where I am on Sakhalin there's Zhigulevskoye (Жигулёвское). This USED to be the "generic" Soviet beer and back in your day was probably pretty bland. However, the version they make at the brewery here in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk is a modern recipe and actually excellent, for a lager. I think you can only get it here though.

There's also Baltika 6 Porter, if you're into the dark stuff, which is quite nice, and Vasileostrovskaye Triple Wheat from St Petersburg, which is very tasty.

Mostly it's Baltika 3 or 7 or Zolotaya Botchka that's readily available everywhere, at least out here in the Russian far east, with Siberian Crown on draft in some places. They're drinkable but nothing to write home about.