Where to find single Russian girls for dating?

30.01.2017

Some men dream of meeting a Russian or Ukrainian woman. These women are sometimes thought to be gorgeous, adventurous, and up for a good time, though they are more complicated than that, just like other girls.

In the 90s Russia became popular not only as a new "unexplored" travel destination, but also as a place to find a "perfect" wife (and more rarely – a husband). "Russian brides" is one of the most popular search term on Google related to Russia... Men who travel to Russia are often interested in Russian women (and many of them – we estimate 30% – come specifically for that reason) and Russian women – in general – are not against marrying an interesting foreign man. There is demand, there is supply, and so there is a "Russian bride" marketplace.

“Take a chance by joining us! You would then understand, this is among the best places that offer an exclusive dating and marriage service to its members.”

That’s a traditional advertisement that offers every dating agency. And moreover that’s one of the ways to meet single Russian. If you are looking to find a Russian girlfriend or wife, there are sites that list profiles of Russian women seeking partners, such as Elena's Models. Some of these women live in the USA, Europe, Australia; others reside in Russia but would be open to meeting a potential partner from overseas. You should start with creating his profile and then send some free requests of interest (EOI) to women to see how they respond. If you like Russian girls, you can also find out more about specifics of their courting culture and etiquette in the VIP coaching program that is offered for men dating Russian women. The VIP Coaching program basically gives a step-by-step guidance how to date Russian girls, including ladies living in your country and people you meet through online dating sites. The dating tips are simple to follow and make it easy to find a Russian girlfriend.

There are a lot of marriage agencies in the world that offer introduction services. In most cases, these agencies have a database of women who want to find a foreign husband and a database of men who want to find a wife from another country. The marriage agencies make money by selling entries from these databases to men and women, who want to find a partner. However, usually, it is men paying to have their data submitted to the database, or to have access to some data from the "women" database.

Pro: a possibility of making a sample from this database based on such criteria as age, occupation, interests -- it makes it easier to find the person that fits specifications exactly and perfectly well, like a product in a supermarket.

Contra: This approach seems quite general and time-consuming. Even if the database is quite comprehensive, it will never give a complete representation of a person. Also, the woman doesn't choose the man at all. Also, there's a high possibility that the woman was already contacted by many men, which lessens your chances. Also, the women who submit their profiles to marriage agencies are marriage-oriented by default, so there's a risk of getting into a "Money Maker" or a "Russophobic".

• Social Networks and Apps. Tinder can work out, as well as OKCupid and local Russian social network VK. Those are all used in Russia extensively for dating purposes, so maybe this is the most direct and efficient way to find somebody, especially that you're a foreigner and can ask a lot of stupid questions like "can you show me around?" or "do you know where I could stay for a few days?" etc.
   
• Internet Marriage Agencies. Generally, they employ the same concept as traditional ones, except that they use internet. It allows easier access to their databases, online search on various criteria, and makes the services more versatile and less expensive. It's better to find the agency, which operates its own database - many marriage agencies just buy databases of other marriage agencies and these databases become outdated and old.

What services do they offer:

a) Submitting your data to marriage agencies (about $50 US per month);

b) Listing your ad in a special catalogue, which is then distributed among interested women (about $150 US);

c) Ads in Russian newspapers and magazines (the price depends);

d) Selling e-mail, postal addresses and phone numbers of women from the database (about $10 US for one address);

e) E-mail forwarding. Many ladies don't have an e-mail access, so you submit your e-mail, it is printed out and forwarded to the lady you're writing to (usually it costs $5 US for a letter).

Things to be aware about:

a) There's much scam on the internet related to "marriage business", be aware about it, choose only reputable agencies or the ones, that were recommended to you by a person who had his own positive experience at a specific agency.

b) E-mail forwarding is a big business: most of the ladies don't have internet access, so the agencies make money out of it: every letter costs $5. Ask the lady you're writing with if the e-mail is her personal, and if it is not, ask for a post address or phone number.

c) Sometimes, it's not even real women writing the letters, but agents (there were cases like this in Russia). So one should always be aware of it. The best way to check is to ask for a post address (no P.O. boxes) and a home phone number and check personally.

d) Never send money. If you need to meet, better buy a plane ticket for yourself and come to Russia.

What agencies to use: There's a myriad of different agencies and it's hard to recommend something, but the most popular internet marriage agencies that have Russian women's profiles in their databases are:

- Foreign Affair - one of the biggest introduction agencies, it is based in Arizona, USA. Has databases of emails ($9 US for an address, $95 US for more than 20), offers a 3-month ad placement in a catalogue, magazines, newspapers ($145 US), has open access to profiles. It accepts credit cards.

- Elena's Models - a quote from their site: "specializes in introducing Russian and Eastern European women of models quality who seek contacts with western men with the purpose of future marriage". It is founded in South Africa and has online profiles, sells e-mail addresses ($9 US per one) as well as ad listing in special publications, e-mail forwarding, and submitting data to marriage agencies.

- A Pretty Woman - a US based small dating agency, features profiles on Russian women only.

- Bride.Ru - a Russian based introduction agency that features online profiles, sells e-mails and phone numbers of Russian marriage-minded women for $20 US for about 1800 addresses.

• Internet Dating Sites. These kinds of sites are not marriage agencies. They are free both for men and women who want to find a partner. Usually, a person submits his / her profile and a photograph to a searchable database. Once the profile is in the database, everybody can have access to it. A good thing about this service is that it's free and opened to everybody; however, it is not targeted specially to marriage-minded people. To be able to present yourself to Russian women, it's better to use Russian dating sites. Most of them are in Russian language, however, if you have a Russian-speaking friend, it's very much worth to try to place an ad in Russian there or surf through the existing ads. Among the most popular Russian dating sites are:

- Omen.Ru - A popular Russian entertainment portal, dating section.

- Dating.Ru - Another Russian dating portal.

- Aslanova.Ru - Personal ads posted by Russian girls from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and other Russian cities. Be careful: there are some erotic links inside. The site is fully in Russian, but you can click through to get to e-mails.

• Placing Your Own Ad. Doing things yourself, you bypass all kinds of intermediaries. The best thing to do is to put a personal ad in a newspaper or a magazine which is published in Russia. You might do it in English, but to increase your chances, you can try to find a Russian friend, who'll translate your ad for you. The only problem with that is that your ad will be most probably targeted to people from Moscow and St. Petersburg only. It'll be hard to put a personal ad in a newspaper or a magazine issued in a provincial Russian town. In that case, the best is to find special publications for marriage-minded women and to place an ad there, or use the services of introduction agencies.

Anyway, here's a list of some Russian publications, which might be interesting for placing an ad in:

- The Moscow Times (http://www.themoscowtimes.com) - a daily English-language newspaper published in Moscow. Very popular among expats and middle-class educated Moscovitans. There's a classified section, where you can put a personal for about $10-$20 US.

- The St. Petersburg Times (http://www.sptimes.ru) - a daily English-language newspaper, a twin of the Moscow Times, published in St. Petersburg.

- The Russian Journal (http://www.russianjournal.ru) -- a daily and weekly English-language newspaper.

- Afisha Magazine (http://www.afisha.ru) - a very popular Moscow listings publication in Russian language, features culture, arts, what's on listings, cinema and more. A kind of time-out magazine for Moscow. Features "Personals" section in classified. It’s very popular among young people, who want to be "in fashion", Moscow intelligentsia.

You're more likely to find a Russian or Ukrainian woman if you go to the places where she is most likely to be. There are some obvious places to find these women, but there are some other less-known locations to find them as well. Here's where you can begin your search:

• Obviously, go to Russia or Ukraine. There will be plenty of Russian and/or Ukrainian women there.
• Other countries that were formerly in the Soviet Union, such as Latvia, Estonia, or Belarus.
• Places in America with large immigrant communities, especially the New York and New Jersey area.

And remember!!! Basically, it's complicated. The Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, all people under its power were considered to be Russian, whether they wanted to be or not. But Ukraine is a separate country with its own customs, language, and culture. The fastest way to annoy a Russian or Ukrainian woman is not to understand this difference.