Russian businessmen being approached by the local mob was more common back in 90s (that much I know from experience, because my parents ran a small business back then, and had to deal with all that). But the country as a whole was less authoritarian than it is today.
As far as doing something that the ruling class doesn't want done - if you mean politically, there are plenty of comparable countries, such as Singapore, that are similarly considered authoritarian but not totalitarian. Totalitarianism normally means total control (or at least the possibility of it) - not just of political participation, but of all spheres of life. Russia may turn totalitarian yet - there are certainly plenty of ideologues advocating it - but it hasn't crossed that line so far.
And yes, of course it's all a spectrum. Totalitarianism itself is a small subset of the much wider authoritarian spectrum.
As far as doing something that the ruling class doesn't want done - if you mean politically, there are plenty of comparable countries, such as Singapore, that are similarly considered authoritarian but not totalitarian. Totalitarianism normally means total control (or at least the possibility of it) - not just of political participation, but of all spheres of life. Russia may turn totalitarian yet - there are certainly plenty of ideologues advocating it - but it hasn't crossed that line so far.
And yes, of course it's all a spectrum. Totalitarianism itself is a small subset of the much wider authoritarian spectrum.