Recent entry/exit experience?

No, no one here has recent experience with entering or departing Russia.

Nobody. Read this recent thread.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/russia/russia-bound

You are a brave person and assume you have a strong need to be in Russia. Russia is just ahead of N Korea as the last place I would want to travel. Good luck.

basically any words of wisdom?

Find a more open / friendly place to visit. I’ve been to Moscow on business as well (2009) and was nervous enough then. Felt more comfortable in Yemen, and THAT is a scary place, but at least they carry their guns openly.

I can’t imagine a Russian bank opening an account for a US citizen. You can hardly get an account in Canada without being a citizen.

Thank you, Frank!

No, I do not have a specific "need", just wanted to check on people I kind of grew to care about and see how things are going in real life. Oh, and maybe take a trip to lake Baikal if time allows.

Looks like a good deal more planning is in order this time around, starting with flights, payments, and other technical things. Not too much information available online, so wanted to check with some seasoned travelers here :-)

Please tell me you have some intensely important reason for going to Russia at this horrific moment in time?

“ Not too much information available online, so wanted to check with some seasoned travelers here :-)”

If that’s the case why are you posting here and not somewhere else? The Russia part of this forum has very few recent posts, whereas the TripAdvisor forum for Russia is still very active with lots of recent posts and info.
Or are you just here to stir the pot?

Hmm... Not too many options left, travel forums wise... I've used this forum before, with good results - people were very helpful here.
I'll also post to TA, thanks for the suggestion. Maybe Reddit, too - that one certainly is super active.

Good luck ---- My preference is to travel when my citizenship is respected and have the assumption that the US is available to come to my assistance if problems develop. I will spend my tourist dollars where it is appreciated.

You do realize that if the people you see there have been identified as anti-war by the Russian government(whether true or not), you could find yourself in prison? In a previous post, I see that you have a family do you really want to risk putting them through that?

Hey all, I’m locking this thread and pasting the Webmaster’s response from this recent, similar post: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/russia/russia-bound

While the OP has been adequately cautioned in this thread, and we do not typically moderate content, we're in a position to address any thread that can negatively affect one's physical safety. For the sake of any others reading along, as a reminder from our Community Guidelines, we (Rick Steves, Rick Steves' Europe Inc, RSE staff) accept no responsibility for loss, injury, inconvenience, etc sustained by any person using the free advice received from Rick Steves Community members.

Note the U.S. Dept of State's strongly worded Level 4 "Do Not Travel" Travel Advisory for Russia. Here is the first paragraph from that advisory:

Do not travel to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, the potential for harassment and the singling out of U.S. citizens for detention by Russian government security officials, the arbitrary enforcement of local law, limited flights into and out of Russia, the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens in Russia, and the possibility of terrorism. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Russia should depart immediately. Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions.