Language ettiquette in Uzbekistan

I know most people in Uzbekistan will speak Russian. Is it good form to launch directly into Russian or would that be deemed rude? Should I first ask "do you speak Russian" in Uzbek? Will most signs (on storefronts, etc) be in Uzbek or Russian?

My own experience was that overall, it doesn't really matter, but I know I had largely concentrated on learning a few Uzbek phrases beforehand, rather than Russian. People certainly won't have a problem if you address them in Russian, but I found were pleasantly surprised if you spoke a bit of Uzbek. As far as street signs, storefronts, etc. are concerned, most are in Uzbek (Roman alphabet) now.

I spoke only russian and it wasn't a problem (wenn the other spoke russian too; even wenn not, they always founded somebody speakes russian). The signs were most in Usbek.

People in UZ have no aversion to Russian language (in fact, many of them regret disintegration of the USSR; also Russia is a very attractive immigration destination), so no problem here. Any written information is normally in Uzbek, can be Cyrillic or Latin, no presize rule here. PS I have heard Uzbek citizens of different ethnic origin use Russian to communicate with each other. PPS In a street in Tashkent I saw "wanted" announcements for some medium or higher than medium level jobs that were only in Russian - I think it was a deliberate attempt at first-step selection of candidates.

Russian is widely spoken language in Uzbekistan, but mostly in Tashkent. Elders know it better than youngsters. Please note that in Samarkand and Bukhara cities people speak mostly in Tajik, and almost no Russian. Signs are in Uzbek and Russian, sometimes in English. Yongsters know English pretty good, so you can address to young people in English even.