Is Russia Safe?

[timwright]

I am from Australia, and am thinking about going on an exchange to somewhere in Russia. My mum thinks that Russia is too unsafe. Is this the case? And if so, how bad is it?

[Dr_Woland]

hi Tim

Good on yer mum for caring, but I think she's being over-anxious! :-)

There are two aspects to look at: personal safety, and likelihood of accidental injury.

Personal safety - despite the Cold Warriors on this board (who have, as far as I know, never actually been here, they just need somewhere to hate) there are really no statistics to back-up the few scare stories which are around. Moscow is still statistically safer than NYC - and you'd go to NYC, right? If you don't do stupid "natural victim" things - like counting your money on street-corners, going home with girls you met ten minutes before (you'll get to meet their "brother" if you do..), reading maps conspicuously in public, you should be fine. If you really want to play it safe, try the traditional blending-in techniques of dressing-down (nb most Russians dress smartly these days, so don't come like a scarecrow either!), and carrying a local newspaper ("MK" is a good safe bet in Moscow). In the past 11 years of being responsible for thousands of tourists visiting Moscow, we've only had one instance of robbery. A guy left his video-camera with a girl in an ultra-short skirt in a nightclub, whilst he went make himself look nice for her in the Men's room. Oddly-enough, she was gone when he came back, and so was the camera.

And outside Moscow, it's even safer still, unless you deliberately pick a crime hot-spot like Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Noril'sk, or some of Moscow's grimmer satellite towns like Lyubertsy or Tambov. Don't ever mess with the Lyubertsy Boys, take my word for it :-)

In terms of the risk of accident or illness, Russia's no worse than other places you could go. Some of the domestic airlines are pretty bad, but even so, there have been worse incidents in W Europe and Asia in the past six months. It gets, errrr, very cold in Winter, so be prepared. But you can get a nice warm "dublenka" (sheepskin coat) for a low price here, so don't use your precious luggage-allowance on one!

If you think you might get behind the wheel here, get an International Driving Licence before you come. You don't need anything else - well, a car is useful, of course.

As long as you don't act like an imbecile (which will get you into trouble anywhere in the world, including Australia, I guess) you'll be fine here - you may even enjoy it!

Dr W.
(in Moscow)

[Mission010]

Dr. W is definately correct, and he is the one who would know he's been living there a long time.
I just wanted to second his opinion of the safety issue, and add that as an American I have visited Moscow, Labytnanghi(siberia) Salakhard(siberia), and Khaboravsk(Far East), and at no time did I ever feel that I was in any danger whatsoever. I never saw any thing threatening. Just be sure that you are smart and follow the Dr's suggestions and you'll be absolutely ok!
Oh yeah, and when you go -Have fun, there is so much you can learn from the Russian people if you care to try.