Quickly creating an issue for this; proper issue summary will follow.
https://www.drupal.org/docs/8/upgrade/upgrade-using-web-browser#pre-upgr...
If the database credentials to your source database are correct, the upgrade review page will appear as illustrated in the screenshot below. This page shows a summary of the upgrade status for all installed modules on the old site.
Latest iterations use this help text instead:
The new site is missing modules corresponding to the old site's modules. Unless they are installed prior to the upgrade, configuration and/or content needed by them will not be available on your new site. Read the checklist to help decide what to do.

Recent comments
There is a Drupal 7 contrib module that "lets the administrator see all administration pages in her preferred language" and which could be ported to Backdrop: https://www.drupal.org/project/...
Allow admin to select admin language seperate from front end language (multilingual)
@stpaultim – You're right: my approach affects also the main menu. I guess, because menus are also considered as user interface (not as content). @findlabnet – If I didn't miss anything,...
Allow admin to select admin language seperate from front end language (multilingual)
Go to the account edit of the desired user. On the horizontal tab below "Region and Language," select "English" or another language. WFM.
Allow admin to select admin language seperate from front end language (multilingual)