Staying Safe in Russia:
Juvenile delinquency, organized crime and corruption may occur in Russia. The Russian Mafia is infamous, and has a business of smuggling drugs from and in the country. The police are widely regarded as corrupt, and (may)take bribes. The conflict in Chechnya is also a major problem.
When buying items, make sure money is folded backwards with small bills on the outside and larger on the inside. Try to get bills in 50-500 ruble amounts to keep the numbers on the bills small.
Also, don't take your money out to pay before the total is told to you. This is considered stupid or odd. It also helps to keep your money from being snatched from you.
Staying Healthy in Russia:
The further you get from Moscow or St. Petersburg, the worse the water condition gets. Usually it's OK to drink in the European part of Russia, but try to stick with bottled water in Siberia and the Far East. If you can't afford to buy bottled water boil water before drinking even in Moscow and St. Petersburg. You should have no problem with affording it, though - it costs only about 7-15 rubles ($0.25-$0.50 USD) for 2 liters.
Be careful not to buy fake vodka (could be very dangerous). Buy only vodka wih the sticker over the cap and/or the region's barcode on the side (Sakhalin, Kamchatka, etc).
Some kiosks could sell meals of bad quality. If you are not confident, just throw it away.
Although most of them are quite good, take note of who buys and what they buy. That could help to make a good choice.
Russian Language:
Russia has a hundred languages and supports many of them, sending linguists to document them and invent writing systems for them (all Cyrillic, of course) and making them local official languages.
The south border is lined with Turkic, Mongolian, and Tungusic; the north with Finnic and Samoyed.
The southwest corner has a variety of Caucasian languages; the northeast has the few Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages. Russian is the native language of Russians; it is the official language, so wherever you go in Russia, you'll find someone who speaks Russian.
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