To clarify: I contacted one of the professors directly, whom I visited, who was aware of my background (my employee at the time introduced us and wrote an informal letter of recommendation), and who collaborated on a startup project I mentioned.
Not to sound like an ass, but if that's your limiting factor and you're making anywhere near the salary you listed as average, don't worry about it. If you can figure out a way to get yourself to a better position, I'll figure out a way to get you 400 USD / year.
Are you sure about that? Even now it's pretty hard to send money to Russia - SWIFT is not working for most banks, Wise stopped RUB transfers, etc.
In 1-2 weeks time there would be no legal way to send money to your family back in Russia, I'm pretty sure.