The Soviet Moon program was developed as the result of a competition between two large designers, with the winner taking the program as far as it went. The US program was a product of the government (NASA) after very early competition between designs. The Soviet model resembled capitalism, the US socialism.

Now, having said that, there were some other considerable differences. The Soviet 2 man capsules had ejection seats - Gemini did not. The Soviets were mindful of safety.

On both sides, on every flight, everyone from the top down was extremely concerned that the rockets, et al, hold together. They were aware there were numerous compromises, work-arounds and weak points which could fail. No flight was a slam-dunk and they were so complicated that sooner or later something would fail. Had to fail. Tolerances were that tight, times so precise, fuels so toxic and reactive, weight v. strength so carefully calculated and unknowns so random and ubiquitous that failure was a certainty somewhere along the line.

Solutions to problems seemed to add complexity which added risk. Technology, including materials and information processing, was driven to the very limits, and then some. And did, on occasion, come back to bite them. Consider the computer warnings on 'final' for Apollo 11. The technology had been taken farther than it could handle.

And the project people sweat every launch, just praying that this one would hold together. With the only certainty being there was nothing certain.

The Soviets, contrary to Western propaganda, were safety conscious. And they, too, were in a race. But I don't see where they used pure oxygen in their capsules and do it all the way through until they got "bit".