Security Situation in Russian Cities

This from a poster whose very pseudonym will be taken by a great many Russians as a deliberately offensive slap in the face! One doesn't run into such naked hypocrisy just every day. (And, no, I have no interest at all in debating the truth of the "russiaisautocratic" sentiment here. There's a reason why LP killed the "Talk Politics" branch, and why it should stay dead. There are other, more appropriate fora for airing one's political views.)

Personally being called a 'foreigner' in any language has never bothered me in the least, even when it involves slightly racially-charged terms like 'gringo' or (here) 'laowai'; so I can't relate to your position at all. Those that choose to live or travel abroad need to develop thicker skins than that. As several posters have already established, overt racism is, indeed, a problem in Russia, but it avails nothing at all to tar the relatively innocent--"look there goes a black guy / a foreigner / a Chinese person!"--with same brush as actual expressions of hatred, prejudice or racial superiority.

100% agreed with Zashibis.

I must to add despite racial-based violence for sure does exist in Russia, it is a problem mostly for SPb, Moscow and some southern regions. Here in Siberia it is very rare if any. Black people may only catch some attention/curiosity like "which country you came from?" or similar.

Best regards- Igor Fedyaev.