Because of the iron curtain of communism Russia has been for the most part closed off to the western world for the better part of the last century. Because of this for many years when one in the western world envisioned "russian women" they would picture women similar to matryoshka- the russian nesting dolls. Stout peasant women in babushkas with worn faces from working the land.
It wasn't until the fall of communism that nations of the former soviet union were able to open their boarders to tourists and other facets of western media. It was then that it became known a truer picture of russian society and what you currently know russian girl to look like.
Even though there is a higher international interest in russian women the percentage of
russian ladies searching for love online is no different than the percentage of women using online dating in other parts of the world. The difference with the online dating culture for
russian woman is the emphasis on making international contact and the lack of availability of internet access.
While it may be hard for westerners to imagine, waking up and checking your email from the comfort of your own home is a luxury rarely seen in the vast majority of territory formerly occupied by the USSR. Even in larger cities such as Moscow, one of the most expensive places to live, personal computers and internet access are not common place and are not affordable for the majority of single women living in the city. Internet service providers have only started to see real growth in the last few years and even in big cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg to get access to the internet one can expect to pay over $100 on a monthly basis. When you consider the majority of the population is non metro, women living in other cities in russia and ukraine, internet access is even fewer and farther between. The culture and technology gap caused by the years the country was sheilded from western culture and that the land covers 11 time zones makes widespread internet access a difficult and timely undertaking.
This is why russian women rely on marriage agencies. Agencies provide women access to internet services- the ability to post their profile online, read and answer email, and a place to chat and get to know the men who are interested in them. They allow women to communicate in ways they would not be able to otherwise. Dating agencies bridge the gap, offering everything from translation services for slavic women still learning english to assisting western men when they have decided to visit their future bride in her home country.
Someday russian technology will catch up to it's western counterparts. Russia's borders were closed for nearly 70 years and the cold war ended only less than 20 years years ago. Countries of the former soviet union are catching up but because of the lack of existing infrastructure for such technologies it is a long and difficult process. I think if growth continues to show positive improvement that day will eventualy come, but it is still a generation away for most of the russian world at large.
