Yes, he talked about civilizations having a life cycle, growing from young to old, and eventually losing life force. One very much gets the impression here that Russia is a young civilization with a lot of energy and future ahead of it. This is interesting because in fact Russian civilization has been growing in strength for 700 years, but it seems it is far from realizing its full potential. It seems to be expanding again very rapidly after the 70 year Soviet detour, and the 30 years after that as it struggled to find its footing.
Lack of full 2A unfortunately overrules all your other positive points. We've tried hard for years to get to Rus, and have followed you for years, but see no progress in this key individual freedom. Russia still doesn't trust its people, much less foreigners, of course. Non-fully-armed citizenry is exactly what permits the Czarist excesses under the Nicholases, permits an easy Bolshevik takeover, and even makes the 1990s decimation easier. Without 2A you are TOTALLY at the mercy of your government: good Czar, fine, but even mediocre Czar (Paul v) and you're in deep trouble. A nation that doesn't trust its citizens to be fully armed is always totalitarian at heart, whatever its professed conservative social values. Unfortunately, Russia doesn't have a stellar history of consistent good government. Beats everywhere in EU of course, but not, say, Wyoming.
This idea that Russia was badly governed before the Bolsheviks came in is completely wrong, a result of propaganda. The 19thc and early 20thc were particularly well governed. I mention this in a paragraph in the article. Almost everything you think is true about Russian history is mostly deliberate lies.
In the centuries leading up to the revolution, Russia had no gun ownership restrictions, and gun ownership and gun culture of all kinds was wide-spread. They were put in place by the Bolsheviks.
Many people, especially the Orthodox faithful, think Paul 1st was one of the great Tsars, and there is a movement here to have him canonized. I think that's who you meant. (There was no Paul V)
RUSSIA HAS CUT OFF ACCESS TO YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM, FB - VIDEOS BY SLOWING INTERNET ACCESS TO THE POINT THAT NO VIDEOS CAN DOWNLOAD - UPLOAD. Have this information directly from a friend and family that are native Russians. Consider the motivation behind such a national action and consider if under that iron fist is where you want to live.
Not to say other countries are better, or will be better, but right now Russia is on one hand compelling on the other strangling.
VPNs are not illegal here, and very popular, so people who really want to are still accessing all these sites, and the government doesn't seem to mind. That said, the gov does try to block vpns, so folks are constantly hopping around, trying new ones. Of course that could change.
The U.S. has cut these services off completely this week.
Also - as for Youtube, Facebook - there IS a ton of pro-Ukraininan propaganda on these services. It seems reasonable for the country to want to prevent foreign propaganda - we do the same thing to "RT" and now "Tenet Media" (if the allegations are true regarding the later).
The Russians created Telegram which is really good. Can they create a Russtube to make informative videos available to the masses? Idk.
RuTube has been there for years. Nobody there uses it because many Russians are dependent on western social media monetization to supplement inadequate legit income.
Video hosting is a winner-takes-all sphere, due to user base driving content creator ecosystem and algorythm optimisation, existing content base and economies of scale for server clusters.
Im the same way that no country had established a shipbuilding industry in the 20th century without protectionist policies (e.g. china, south korea), noone can compete in user-generated video hosting in the 21st century.
Russia was fine with a foreign actor holding monopolistic market share for online video content (excl movies, which have media contracts and royalties), until the platform began acting openly hostile by banning users without cause, simply for political reasons (e.g. подоляка, стас ай как просто, артём лебедев, and others, who i personally saw get banned without cause. Total subscriber base >20 million).
Now youtube is 'soft blocked'. Can be accessed through mobile internet, but not wifi. I imagine this is a transition and it will soon be completely cut off. Alternatives are rutube and dzen, which have a good service offering and growing user base 👍
Very good "Intentional Living". I will also ad, Russia is prosecuting those of us hTruthers (No 3rd Reich gas chambers ever existed) that positively prove Germany was the victim, not the aggressor in WWII. It is the International joo cabal's control of the press an governments that suppress us. 88&8's,Dave
Just starting year 3 on my tourist visa. Couldn't be happier - 🇷🇺 language is a bit challenging, but life is for learning. Thank you Charles for your valuable insights.
Yes, many Americans don't realize that it is very easy to obtain a 3 year multiple entrance tourist visa, which effectively allows them to stay in Russia for 3 years. This was a bilateral deal negotiated during the Obama administration which gave favorable visa terms to both Russians and Americans, and it has stayed in place. These visas are easy to get from the Russian embassy in the US. They allow holders to stay in Russia 180 days at a time, after which they must leave Russia for at least 1 day, and then they can return and stay for another 180 days, and so on, until the end of the visa. The visas are multiple entry, so the holder can come and go from Russia as often as he likes. America is the only country which has this arrangement with Russia. Multiple entry tourist visas for many other countries, including Europe, are valid for only 1 year, and allow holders to stay for 90 days, after which they must leave. They can return again, but they can only stay in Russia a total of 180 days of the period for which the visa is valid. I forget whether they can come back immediately after the first 90 days, or have to wait for 90 days. Many Americans come here on these visas and stay. They do not allow a person to be officially employed, but many people work anyway, being payed unofficially, or are self-employed, or just live off savings because the fx rates are so favorable here. Even with Putin's new decree, this is a useful option for some who just want to come for a while and see what Russia is like, without going through the application process for getting temporary residency, which, while not exactly difficult, is time consuming.
How would a mixed Filipino/white family do in Russia? Would they be welcome, or would there be moments of difficult prejudice? Is moving to Russia a “whites only” proposition?
That said, the Russian government is not interested in bringing in a lot of non-white immigrants, partly because they have too many already, and partly because they are looking at the unfolding disaster in the West, and don't want to repeat that mistake. So I expect they will keep an eye on the statistics, and tilt the approval process towards whites if a lot of non-whites are asking to come in. Apparently these applications will be approved on a case by case basis. But at this early stage, I would be very surprised if they denied these visas to non-whites.
No, not at all, for now. Yes I do, absolutely. Look at my answer above about tourist visas - I recommend to a lot of people to come for a visit and see for themselves.
Do you think young Filipino-American people would have difficulty finding companions? (I imagine it’d be easier for young ladies, compared to young fil-am men.)
No, not particularly. There will always be some Russians who would not consider dating or marrying non-whites, but there are plenty who would. And there are a lot of other ethnicities in Russia.
Russians are much less prejudiced than in the West. Westerners weren't as prejudiced 10 years ago, but all the immigration has radicalized them. Russians are somewhat prejudiced against muslims from the Caucusus regions and Central Asia, because there are so many of them and it is causing social tension. As long as people are not in that category, Russians would be very welcoming.
Russian here. It is a highly multinational country,. About 190 ethnic groups live there, including a number of nationalities of at least a million. They come in very different looks. Russians have no problem at all with Asian-looking people
Generally correct, but not entirely accurate because the massive presence of migrant workers from the Islamic Caucusus regions and Central Asia is causing substantial social tension, and the government is talking about decreasing it. Most of these migrant workers are here on temp work visas and are not being given citizenship, but a lot are. There is also almost no social mixing or intermarriage between Russians and these migrants.
I have no experience with Filipino people, but I meet Asians daily, including in work and study spaces, and there's no prejudice I could spot. Russia isn't some "Hyperborean White Bastion" as someone could think from Christian posts.
Throughout my 90 years, 45 were believing what my country/school/parents taught me on religion/politics/joos. At about 45, an x3rd Reich paratrooper that was at Stalingrad told me "Dave, there's another side to the story." About 5 years later I became a National Socialist. Today, in Russia, I would probably be sent to the "salt mines of Siberia" if I immigrated. Russia still does NOT want the truth of WWII. Working in China 1994 & 1995 I saw a China as surpassing the USA in 15 years. It took them 20, but if I were 60 again, I'd be in China, certainly NOT RUSSIA
Maybe look up the meaning of “surpass”? China the patent-thieving, dictatorial, population-imploding country is not a rival to America in any lasting manner.
I worked at both a refinery and plastics. There engineers working with me were better than any in USA at similar plants. Have you read about the BYD cars built in China? Far superior to anything in the USA or Europe at a lower price.
Uh, how about a tire factory? Remember when they removed the gum strip and caused Firestone tires to fall apart at speed? Watch Serpentza’s videos about current foibles and be disabused of Xi-na adulation. BYD is not long for this world once their export dumping isn’t subsidized by Globalist money manipulators. The same goes for most goods from Xi-na; they’re not making actual profit from unbelievably cheap exports—they’re intended to collapse competition.
I am a floating expatriate, retired, based in Asia. I love the idea of relocating to Roosha, always admired Rootin Tootin Putin (I have only to hear the Mockery Bird MSM disparage some diplomatic honcho to put him/her on my Probably Good list.) I even once took a Russian language class, in my unfinished circa-70’s college education. So since he generously invited the Poor, the Huddled, the Wokeswept masses to Slavic sanctuary, I’m DOWN already.
Political Roadblock: economic sanctions on Russia prevent me accessing my moola there, and the Office of Homoland Sodomy would probably fine me for even going there.
God I hate the Democrats/globalist, with a great & mighty virulence surpassing even the late-stage TDS, (known to trigger semantic-seizures in the Woka Kola tribe) by fathoms. Specially since I have a genuine grievance, not a gotdam CNN-contracted Head Talker viral-contagion of the frontal lobes.
Sputnik as well Telegram (Montenegro) are blocked in Italy; you have use a VPN and put yourself in Russia. The west means freedom and democracy for dummies.
Another consideration is the likely blowback from the regimes of the countries deemed eligible for this wonderful program. Do not expect the US to be nice about it. There will be new, hasty laws and executive orders designed to harass American emigrants such as revocation of pensions, seizures of assets, unconstitutional restrictions on travel, etc. Not to mention also lots of dirty tricks like threatening family members staying behind, fake news stories about the failure of the program, persecution of Russian nationals, etc. You know - the kinds of things the communist countries did in the old days when WE were the good guys. ( But were we really…?)
I suppose this is possible if the US goes full totalitarian, but there are good reasons why they won't do this. For one thing, it would scare the hell out of a lot of people, motivating them to leave. The USSR could do this because their borders were closed. Also, it would go over like a lead balloon with other Americans, and would be terrible PR for the government internationally. Civil liberties are too strong at the current time for this to be a serious consideration, in my opinion.
I am pretty certain the author does speak the language. If, as you note, you can read and write in Russian, then presumably you've mastered the hardest bit. Learning to speak should be relatively easy, especially if surrounded by native speakers.
Now, if may comment on your other points.
1) The country is very, very big. Some places are cold and dark for most of the year, and many other places have a mild climate. And much variation in between. Certainly, living in the UK feels more dreary as far as the weather is concerned compared to when I lived in the south of Russia.
3) These apnea devices are not anything particularly high-tech or difficult to manufacture. If there are people suffering from this condition in Russia , there will be devices on the market that address this issue.
2) With regard to getting drafted in a future war. My feeling is that if Russia is forced to announce a full mobilisation that is likely to get you drafted... It can only mean a full-scale invasion of NATO troops into Russia's territory, a HUGE escalation and potentially a global conflict. In that scenario, you won't be completely safe anywhere in the world anyway, whether drafted into the military or not, as this conflict will probably involve nuclear weapons of some variety.
Of course, if you are concerned that you may be drafted to fight in an unjust and completely unprovoked war on a peaceful neighbour, then moving to Russia should be out of the question, on moral grounds.
Russia is a big country. If you prefer a moderate climate similar to the New England coast I would recommend the Black Sea coast. Here's what you can expect in Novorossiysk, a major port city on the Black Sea.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. There's mandatory one year military service for Russian male citizens, which means they have a ready source of trained personnel as reserves to call up, so a draft is unlikely, especially for foreign residents. In the event of any serious conflict you might find that you want to volunteer in a support role somewhere outside the conflict zone. You are, after all, on a path to becoming a citizen and defence of the nation is a part of that process even though it's not a requirement. In the current conflict my sources indicate that Russia has more people volunteering for service than they actually need. I don't expect that to change.
Oswald Spengler said once Russia quit trying to be European, and be their own thing they will be the next great civilization.
Yes, he talked about civilizations having a life cycle, growing from young to old, and eventually losing life force. One very much gets the impression here that Russia is a young civilization with a lot of energy and future ahead of it. This is interesting because in fact Russian civilization has been growing in strength for 700 years, but it seems it is far from realizing its full potential. It seems to be expanding again very rapidly after the 70 year Soviet detour, and the 30 years after that as it struggled to find its footing.
He saw Russian civilization as being in its "springtime" phase compared to the Western "winter"
Pepe Escobar twitted this link. I enjoyed the article.
An American who is very active on Moon of Alabama set up a website that publishes a lot of Russian material. I recommend it.
https://karlof1.substack.com/
He posted this an hour ago
"Today's BRICS+ Discussions" Karl SanchezSep 13, 2024
https://karlof1.substack.com/p/todays-brics-discussions
Thanks
Lack of full 2A unfortunately overrules all your other positive points. We've tried hard for years to get to Rus, and have followed you for years, but see no progress in this key individual freedom. Russia still doesn't trust its people, much less foreigners, of course. Non-fully-armed citizenry is exactly what permits the Czarist excesses under the Nicholases, permits an easy Bolshevik takeover, and even makes the 1990s decimation easier. Without 2A you are TOTALLY at the mercy of your government: good Czar, fine, but even mediocre Czar (Paul v) and you're in deep trouble. A nation that doesn't trust its citizens to be fully armed is always totalitarian at heart, whatever its professed conservative social values. Unfortunately, Russia doesn't have a stellar history of consistent good government. Beats everywhere in EU of course, but not, say, Wyoming.
This idea that Russia was badly governed before the Bolsheviks came in is completely wrong, a result of propaganda. The 19thc and early 20thc were particularly well governed. I mention this in a paragraph in the article. Almost everything you think is true about Russian history is mostly deliberate lies.
In the centuries leading up to the revolution, Russia had no gun ownership restrictions, and gun ownership and gun culture of all kinds was wide-spread. They were put in place by the Bolsheviks.
I'm not aware of any country outside the US which has 2A, so in this sense Russia is not unusual.
Many people, especially the Orthodox faithful, think Paul 1st was one of the great Tsars, and there is a movement here to have him canonized. I think that's who you meant. (There was no Paul V)
RUSSIA HAS CUT OFF ACCESS TO YOUTUBE, INSTAGRAM, FB - VIDEOS BY SLOWING INTERNET ACCESS TO THE POINT THAT NO VIDEOS CAN DOWNLOAD - UPLOAD. Have this information directly from a friend and family that are native Russians. Consider the motivation behind such a national action and consider if under that iron fist is where you want to live.
Not to say other countries are better, or will be better, but right now Russia is on one hand compelling on the other strangling.
VPNs are not illegal here, and very popular, so people who really want to are still accessing all these sites, and the government doesn't seem to mind. That said, the gov does try to block vpns, so folks are constantly hopping around, trying new ones. Of course that could change.
So far it is much better than say, Brazil, where they are fining people $8000/day if they use vpns to access X.
The U.S. has cut these services off completely this week.
Also - as for Youtube, Facebook - there IS a ton of pro-Ukraininan propaganda on these services. It seems reasonable for the country to want to prevent foreign propaganda - we do the same thing to "RT" and now "Tenet Media" (if the allegations are true regarding the later).
The Russians created Telegram which is really good. Can they create a Russtube to make informative videos available to the masses? Idk.
RuTube has been there for years. Nobody there uses it because many Russians are dependent on western social media monetization to supplement inadequate legit income.
Video hosting is a winner-takes-all sphere, due to user base driving content creator ecosystem and algorythm optimisation, existing content base and economies of scale for server clusters.
Im the same way that no country had established a shipbuilding industry in the 20th century without protectionist policies (e.g. china, south korea), noone can compete in user-generated video hosting in the 21st century.
Russia was fine with a foreign actor holding monopolistic market share for online video content (excl movies, which have media contracts and royalties), until the platform began acting openly hostile by banning users without cause, simply for political reasons (e.g. подоляка, стас ай как просто, артём лебедев, and others, who i personally saw get banned without cause. Total subscriber base >20 million).
Now youtube is 'soft blocked'. Can be accessed through mobile internet, but not wifi. I imagine this is a transition and it will soon be completely cut off. Alternatives are rutube and dzen, which have a good service offering and growing user base 👍
Too bad 'we' are divided, cut off from each other.
Can Americans get on Rutube?
with VPN, but watch your govt--they'll be checking you for "undeclared foreign agency"
Very good "Intentional Living". I will also ad, Russia is prosecuting those of us hTruthers (No 3rd Reich gas chambers ever existed) that positively prove Germany was the victim, not the aggressor in WWII. It is the International joo cabal's control of the press an governments that suppress us. 88&8's,Dave
VPN’s can help get the videos.
Just starting year 3 on my tourist visa. Couldn't be happier - 🇷🇺 language is a bit challenging, but life is for learning. Thank you Charles for your valuable insights.
Yes, many Americans don't realize that it is very easy to obtain a 3 year multiple entrance tourist visa, which effectively allows them to stay in Russia for 3 years. This was a bilateral deal negotiated during the Obama administration which gave favorable visa terms to both Russians and Americans, and it has stayed in place. These visas are easy to get from the Russian embassy in the US. They allow holders to stay in Russia 180 days at a time, after which they must leave Russia for at least 1 day, and then they can return and stay for another 180 days, and so on, until the end of the visa. The visas are multiple entry, so the holder can come and go from Russia as often as he likes. America is the only country which has this arrangement with Russia. Multiple entry tourist visas for many other countries, including Europe, are valid for only 1 year, and allow holders to stay for 90 days, after which they must leave. They can return again, but they can only stay in Russia a total of 180 days of the period for which the visa is valid. I forget whether they can come back immediately after the first 90 days, or have to wait for 90 days. Many Americans come here on these visas and stay. They do not allow a person to be officially employed, but many people work anyway, being payed unofficially, or are self-employed, or just live off savings because the fx rates are so favorable here. Even with Putin's new decree, this is a useful option for some who just want to come for a while and see what Russia is like, without going through the application process for getting temporary residency, which, while not exactly difficult, is time consuming.
Like your posts on Russia
I suggest however that you make them much shorter and more limited subject in each post!
Good work for God!
Cheers
Yes, I've thought about that too. So easy to write long. So much to say.
How would a mixed Filipino/white family do in Russia? Would they be welcome, or would there be moments of difficult prejudice? Is moving to Russia a “whites only” proposition?
That said, the Russian government is not interested in bringing in a lot of non-white immigrants, partly because they have too many already, and partly because they are looking at the unfolding disaster in the West, and don't want to repeat that mistake. So I expect they will keep an eye on the statistics, and tilt the approval process towards whites if a lot of non-whites are asking to come in. Apparently these applications will be approved on a case by case basis. But at this early stage, I would be very surprised if they denied these visas to non-whites.
Does it help if they’re Catholic or attend Orthodox services?
Not in terms of receiving favorable application treatment, although one does meet the best people in church, I have found.
And more broadly, so what you’re saying is that a mixed Filipino-American family will have some challenges there, moreso than in America?
Do you think it could be done?
No, not at all, for now. Yes I do, absolutely. Look at my answer above about tourist visas - I recommend to a lot of people to come for a visit and see for themselves.
Do you think young Filipino-American people would have difficulty finding companions? (I imagine it’d be easier for young ladies, compared to young fil-am men.)
No, not particularly. There will always be some Russians who would not consider dating or marrying non-whites, but there are plenty who would. And there are a lot of other ethnicities in Russia.
Russians are much less prejudiced than in the West. Westerners weren't as prejudiced 10 years ago, but all the immigration has radicalized them. Russians are somewhat prejudiced against muslims from the Caucusus regions and Central Asia, because there are so many of them and it is causing social tension. As long as people are not in that category, Russians would be very welcoming.
Russian here. It is a highly multinational country,. About 190 ethnic groups live there, including a number of nationalities of at least a million. They come in very different looks. Russians have no problem at all with Asian-looking people
Generally correct, but not entirely accurate because the massive presence of migrant workers from the Islamic Caucusus regions and Central Asia is causing substantial social tension, and the government is talking about decreasing it. Most of these migrant workers are here on temp work visas and are not being given citizenship, but a lot are. There is also almost no social mixing or intermarriage between Russians and these migrants.
I have no experience with Filipino people, but I meet Asians daily, including in work and study spaces, and there's no prejudice I could spot. Russia isn't some "Hyperborean White Bastion" as someone could think from Christian posts.
I do wonder why the author stresses “White” so much, when what matters is one’s character, culture, and religion.
Well, that's what the globalists believe anyway.
Throughout my 90 years, 45 were believing what my country/school/parents taught me on religion/politics/joos. At about 45, an x3rd Reich paratrooper that was at Stalingrad told me "Dave, there's another side to the story." About 5 years later I became a National Socialist. Today, in Russia, I would probably be sent to the "salt mines of Siberia" if I immigrated. Russia still does NOT want the truth of WWII. Working in China 1994 & 1995 I saw a China as surpassing the USA in 15 years. It took them 20, but if I were 60 again, I'd be in China, certainly NOT RUSSIA
Maybe look up the meaning of “surpass”? China the patent-thieving, dictatorial, population-imploding country is not a rival to America in any lasting manner.
I worked at both a refinery and plastics. There engineers working with me were better than any in USA at similar plants. Have you read about the BYD cars built in China? Far superior to anything in the USA or Europe at a lower price.
Uh, how about a tire factory? Remember when they removed the gum strip and caused Firestone tires to fall apart at speed? Watch Serpentza’s videos about current foibles and be disabused of Xi-na adulation. BYD is not long for this world once their export dumping isn’t subsidized by Globalist money manipulators. The same goes for most goods from Xi-na; they’re not making actual profit from unbelievably cheap exports—they’re intended to collapse competition.
I am a floating expatriate, retired, based in Asia. I love the idea of relocating to Roosha, always admired Rootin Tootin Putin (I have only to hear the Mockery Bird MSM disparage some diplomatic honcho to put him/her on my Probably Good list.) I even once took a Russian language class, in my unfinished circa-70’s college education. So since he generously invited the Poor, the Huddled, the Wokeswept masses to Slavic sanctuary, I’m DOWN already.
Political Roadblock: economic sanctions on Russia prevent me accessing my moola there, and the Office of Homoland Sodomy would probably fine me for even going there.
God I hate the Democrats/globalist, with a great & mighty virulence surpassing even the late-stage TDS, (known to trigger semantic-seizures in the Woka Kola tribe) by fathoms. Specially since I have a genuine grievance, not a gotdam CNN-contracted Head Talker viral-contagion of the frontal lobes.
Sputnik as well Telegram (Montenegro) are blocked in Italy; you have use a VPN and put yourself in Russia. The west means freedom and democracy for dummies.
Another consideration is the likely blowback from the regimes of the countries deemed eligible for this wonderful program. Do not expect the US to be nice about it. There will be new, hasty laws and executive orders designed to harass American emigrants such as revocation of pensions, seizures of assets, unconstitutional restrictions on travel, etc. Not to mention also lots of dirty tricks like threatening family members staying behind, fake news stories about the failure of the program, persecution of Russian nationals, etc. You know - the kinds of things the communist countries did in the old days when WE were the good guys. ( But were we really…?)
I suppose this is possible if the US goes full totalitarian, but there are good reasons why they won't do this. For one thing, it would scare the hell out of a lot of people, motivating them to leave. The USSR could do this because their borders were closed. Also, it would go over like a lead balloon with other Americans, and would be terrible PR for the government internationally. Civil liberties are too strong at the current time for this to be a serious consideration, in my opinion.
Glad you found it helpful.
I am pretty certain the author does speak the language. If, as you note, you can read and write in Russian, then presumably you've mastered the hardest bit. Learning to speak should be relatively easy, especially if surrounded by native speakers.
Now, if may comment on your other points.
1) The country is very, very big. Some places are cold and dark for most of the year, and many other places have a mild climate. And much variation in between. Certainly, living in the UK feels more dreary as far as the weather is concerned compared to when I lived in the south of Russia.
3) These apnea devices are not anything particularly high-tech or difficult to manufacture. If there are people suffering from this condition in Russia , there will be devices on the market that address this issue.
2) With regard to getting drafted in a future war. My feeling is that if Russia is forced to announce a full mobilisation that is likely to get you drafted... It can only mean a full-scale invasion of NATO troops into Russia's territory, a HUGE escalation and potentially a global conflict. In that scenario, you won't be completely safe anywhere in the world anyway, whether drafted into the military or not, as this conflict will probably involve nuclear weapons of some variety.
Of course, if you are concerned that you may be drafted to fight in an unjust and completely unprovoked war on a peaceful neighbour, then moving to Russia should be out of the question, on moral grounds.
Yes I speak fluent Russian.
(1) Cold and dark for much of the year.
Russia is a big country. If you prefer a moderate climate similar to the New England coast I would recommend the Black Sea coast. Here's what you can expect in Novorossiysk, a major port city on the Black Sea.
https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/russia/novorossiysk-climate
(2) Being drafted in a future war.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. There's mandatory one year military service for Russian male citizens, which means they have a ready source of trained personnel as reserves to call up, so a draft is unlikely, especially for foreign residents. In the event of any serious conflict you might find that you want to volunteer in a support role somewhere outside the conflict zone. You are, after all, on a path to becoming a citizen and defence of the nation is a part of that process even though it's not a requirement. In the current conflict my sources indicate that Russia has more people volunteering for service than they actually need. I don't expect that to change.
If you're coming from a western nation the immigration process is much simpler now and you don't need to pass a language test.
https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2024/08/19/putin-streamlines-immigration-process-for-foreigners-opposed-to-western-neoliberal-ideology-en-news