It sounds like a deliberate attempt to cause widespread panic among public for whatever reason.
Journalists are similar all around the world... But in fact I don't believe that crew salaries are reason for worse safety record of Russian air traffic. I think, there are primarily historical reasons. In times of USSR, airliners pilots originate very often from military pilots, which is not ideal for safety (easy to risk, drink). In times of Yelcin era of destroying USSR, the Aeroflot was divided into a tens of companies, often some of them were without good background and appropriate conditions. At the same time the number of passengers sharply drops (from 90 millions drops to 20!) and a new generation of people arises in Russia that had never flown by plane. In those times it was very easy to buy one or two old planes and start to do business. But it is not easy to do it safe without money (experiences, training, maintenance)... In recent years the numbers of passengers are increasing very steep and now there is lack of experienced pilots. And of course some companies are controlled by wild managers that think only how to make money. But I believe that it is getting better and by several years the safety problems will be only history.