Back in the 1990's a lot of people, including journalists, authors, and some in law enforcement, believed the Russians would become the top dogs in organized crime. Like other groups before them, as well as the Albanians afterward, that never really happened. It was mostly hype. Russians and other Eurasian groups have carved out their niche in the underworld, especially when it comes to various sophisticated financial scams, but their MO - which involves small, loosely organized groups coming together to commit a specific crime and then disbanding - don't have the numbers or hierarchy they would need to present a real threat to the LCN. If they are stronger in a given area than the LCN, like Las Vegas and Miami in recent years for example, that's due much more to attrition of the LCN and law enforcement than the Russians pushing aside the Italians.