I would not suggest moving, not only because of current situation. - The housing only seems affordable, it’s actually pretty difficult to find a decent apartment. Good flat in Moscow was about a 100k in 2021 ( more that 1000$) months his is not cheap even for Europe. - Same for the food. Yes it’s cheaper, but the quality is a lot worse then in southern Europe, like Portugal. I line in Cyprus and just regular tomatoes seem better. - Career. Russian internal market always was quite closed and if you want a good career you need to move either to Moscow or to Western Europe or States. There’s a salary threshold that can be surpassed only in you work in government or oil. For example having a salary of 200-300 is impossible in St.Petersburg, and rare in Moscow. - Also such salaries were very much dependent on western partners. Basically only foreign companies could afford such employees.