A gem that was too good to be true
Having traveled the world extensively, Moscow and Russia as a whole emphatically ticked all the boxes as a perfect leisure destination. World class, comfortable cities with amazing public spaces and amenities, cheap prices, extremely favourable exchange rates, great nightlife and beautiful, elegant feminine girls that love foreigners. Easy to pickup regular girls and a well established P4P scene. And being a massage guy, premium massage salons with young, student type girls.
From what it seems like, Russia is just going to be more isolated and increasingly difficult to visit as a foreigner, and just highly impractical regarding everything. It's a real shame that the place where it was possible to live like a king at the because of nothing is now inaccessible.
I know that there are plenty of Russian girls now in Dubai, Turkey etc. But they are just not the same as the local experience.
Tried destinations like Prague to replace Russia, but it just doesn't come close.
Not as dangerous as you may think. But still need to be smart
So I'm an American who's been in and out Russia for most of the year. I'm currently in and staying in a smaller city. Just wanted to chime in about whether or not it's safe to visit.
Overall, yes. It's safe. Moscow is clean and the people are friendly, even if you're from an unfriendly country. In general, it's more about how you act than where you're from.
That being said, there are some downsides. Such as an unfavorable exchange rate, being limited to what you can bring in (max $10 k), and language barriers. Having friends in the city helps a ton.
I'll answer any questions if that helps.