Russia has 8 times the population of Syria, and people can't live on a big part of its territory without artificial heating (and thus fuel supplies; your heating bill is pretty much a live or die price in a lot of places there,) or completely reliant for on long range freight for essential supplies.
The state kept control of the military. Troops were orderly demobilised.
The criminality was comparatively low in comparison to Putin's years. The state-mafia fusion came long after the years immediately following the collapse.
The same is for much of the industry, much of it has failed over nineties, and not immediately after.
The remnants of state economy at least managed to keep supplies going. Utilities in cities on "life support" were failing, but otherwise kept working at any cost.
If Russia will fail today, the collapse will be much less gradual, and this time, there will be a civil war, and warlordism, and famine, and mass humanitarian catastrophy.