What year does the book Russian Roulette by Anthony Horowits take place after chapter one?

Russian Roulette, one of the Alex Rider spy novel series, was released in Autumn 2013. It is the prequel and the 10th novel of the series, explaining how Alex got into the spy game, even though he is just a teenager. The 2nd chapter describes Russia about 10yrs before the end of the 20th century. It is a recollection described in the first person by Yassen, who is about 31 years old at the beginning of the book.