How are Foreigners in Russia Treated?

Travel Info
By policemen, average Russians, etc.

Also,

What things should foreigners do to make a good impression? What things should they avoid? What things are considered rude/polite?

Travel Tips

Basically I would support what Katya says. The problem is that the situation in Russia towards foreigners is going to be worst and worst and worst. This is policy of the Putin's government, trying to redirect attention of the people on enemies from abroad. Russian in general are very nice people. Somewhere I am missing Russians. have a lot of Friends there. But government they have is something aw full, terrible. Apart of this Moscow is something special...very very very expensive.

Others
Person above me: Have you ever been? Of course you haven't. Don't say such stupid things then.

It depends slightly on where in Russia you go. In Moscow, if you look like an obvious tourist, the police may attempt to bribe you for visa infringement. Make sure your visa and registration is totally perfect. If you are feeling brave (and you know 100% you are in the right), you can take their ID number, get out your mobile and say you are phoning your Embassy, but only try this if you know visa is perfect, I can't emphasize that enough. It only really happens in and around Red Square, at airports and possibly at train stations and only really in Moscow. I live in Siberian Russia and was mugged one night and the police were very nice. In general, the police are fine and as long as you don't do anything wrong, they will leave you alone. There is certainly no brutality or anything like that.

Ordinary Russians, again it depends where in Russia are. In European Russian cities, they won't take much notice of you. That's not to say they are rude or anything they are just used to foreign people. It's a little different east of the Ural mountains. People are interested because they rarely see tourists and they will assume you are American, even if you aren't. But I can't emphasize just how lovely Russian people are. They are just fantastic. Warm ,sociable, funny, helpful, just brilliant.

People are very patriotic but to say they are racist is an exaggeration. The western press has blown the stories about skinheads WAY out of proportion. They exist but they are few and far between and not something to be especially concerned about.

Learning to read Cyrillic and say a few phrases in Russian will make a good impression and they will enjoy teaching you Russian, especially the bad words (like any other country does). So, definitely be open to that. If you get the chance to visit a Russian house, expect to be offered lots of food and drink, more than you handle. You need to be polite but firm otherwise they will feed you until you explode. Men especially are expected to drink vodka (a good toast is 'na zdorovia' - to health) but it's not like a drinking binge.

As always, avoid looking like an obvious, silly tourist, talking loudly in English and flashing your camera around. With older people, try to be reasonably formal. I got into a situation for saying 'privyet' - hi to a friend's mum. Never again. Pointing at someone is bad. I got into a huge argument talking about World War II with some people, but I'm not sure how representative they were of all Russians. In general, rude is rude whatever country you go to. Just use common sense.
Very nice. Act like a normal person and you'll be treated the same!
I have been to Russia and am going back this week. For the most part they did not take much notice of me being an American. I was treated like everyone else at the airport and the hotel.
One thing I found out was when you entered someones home you take your shoes off at the front door. It is considered impolite to wear your shoes in someones home.
Do not refer to them as Soviets or call someone comrade. They are Russians. While I found a lot of people enjoyed talking about the difference but just talk about the difference. I would not recommend being boastful or arrogant. Also I avoid any political discussions. Just be polite and remember you are a guest in their country and everything is fine.
I am a russian. Just don't try to talk in russian to russian people. In restarants and hotels or werever just speak in english. Russians have no problems with foreigners unless you try to speak in russian to them. Have fun in Russia!!!!!!!!!
if you look like terrorist suspect ( black hair, dark eyes, latino or arab type) be ready that police will stop you with your every step to check your documents

(russian living in Dubai)
Foreigners in Russia are not treated well. I think Russians themselves are also treated badly by their own citizens, especially officials. Service sector is probably the worst in the world. The sellers, waiters and anyone working in this sector treat you like you are wanting something for no charge. I mean you are paying money to be treated like a bum. This may be a habit from old soviet times when the seller was the king. Ask any of the Russians about the food lines. Virtually they had a line for any kind of product or service. So do not be fooled when you see a line for something. People just love making lines without any reason. They are not bored and do not complain. I think they still fear that FSB (formerly KGB) would take them away to a working camp if they complain about anything for everything was about government in SSSR :)
People are also rude. They will not apologize if they hit you on the street accidentally. They will jump in front of you in the supermarkets.
However, I think all of these are because of the 70 years socialist government and the depressing weather. I think russians will be great people if they did not drink too much and not lived under 70 years communism and cloudy cold weather.