I mean that's just a lie. Kolmogorov didn't achieve international recognition through party connections, he received it because of his genius and accomplishments.
Kolmogorov graduated from university in 1925. The culture of post-revolutionary Soviet Russia in the early 1920s and of USSR during Brezhnev's "developed socialism" in the 1970s were so different as to be entirely incomparable.
The overall pattern over time: vastly less brutality and political violence, less insane unpredictability, more corruption and cronyism and cynicism, and much fewer paths for truly talented people to rise to the top.
Kolmogorov graduated from university in 1925. The culture of post-revolutionary Soviet Russia in the early 1920s and of USSR during Brezhnev's "developed socialism" in the 1970s were so different as to be entirely incomparable.
The overall pattern over time: vastly less brutality and political violence, less insane unpredictability, more corruption and cronyism and cynicism, and much fewer paths for truly talented people to rise to the top.