I got a visa, there was not even a hint that it was possible to be rejected as long as I provided all the docs and waited.
Many others did the same, and this is honestly the first time I hear about it being "hard" (as in rejection hard, not bureaucracy hard).
This is simple not true as, even if I wanted, I could not find any single person who was rejected, that just does not happen
(I am talking about Europeans here, not Iraq etc).
It is pointless to argue with your delusions, as usual, you just like to present it in a ridiculous way "Russia is so great, it does not allow many people etc etc", but this is just ridiculous and typical overstatement from you. You are that kind of person.
PS: As for HIV test - I just checked Russian embassy website and it still states that it is needed only for 3+ months visas.
You may be right and they could have changed that, but in that case it would be nice to update requirements on embassy page as well
Typical Russian slacking, I guess them.