They did not get "out competed" in china, a country where competition has nothing to do with success. Likewise in Russia. Grab is the only company to out compete Uber so far.
There is no way to differentiate in this market. The only thing that would make me switch is a guarantee of a good driver, but that would just raise the costs absurdly.
Even if you succeed temporarily, your competitor will clone you and your technology. Its similar in USA but in China its multiplied by the population factor in a region the same area so its more intense.
The competition also permeates downwards and creates beasts like the 996.
Actually, the success of Didi,Grab,Ola etc. vs. Uber proves that in the complex e-business, as long as there is enough market space in the local area, and you can organize a good team, you can win in the competition with foreign companies. Just like Alibaba and JD beat Amazon, Meituan beat Goupon in China.
That's BS. Yandex is an incredibly strong player in Russia in the search space and Google is not outcompeting them either. It was the case way before Putin's political ambitions became relevant.
All in all, there are many reasons to blame Russia for it's government, but that's blatantly not one of them.