I had a lot of experience with visiting Russia in late 90's eary 2000's.

Generally most of the sites are legit and the women authentic and purposeful.

That being said, some of the biggest Capitalist I have met have been Russina women :-).

But, if you are careful, most of the women are very thoughtful, very sensuous and looking for a way to improve their life and that of their children current or future. The women are wired differently than we are used to. In a very good way that is. Unlike many Western women who are into buying stuff to make them 'sexy', Eastern women have no $'s. Their idea and essence of sexy comes from a deeper place. Very refreshing and powerful.

It has been my experience with friends that they make very devoted and supportive partners.

Elenas models, loveme.com, etc. are great at connecting people. Sure, it cost $'s. It is not like match.com where you can go out on a local date and 'no biggee' if it does not work out. Lost of time invested communicating and then, if you decide to go for some face time, make sure you have a bunch of candidates to visit over there while investing in the flight/hotel/etc.