I see no prior comments on this topic so will add a starting point.
I visited these areas in 2016 partly as a tourist and party via a homestay arranged by Friendship Force International. I do not speak Russian. I have taken a college course in Russian History, though that was in about 1968 and some new history may have happened since then.
My experience is that the Russian people are much like us ... family and economic uncertainty and traffic problems and crime and culture and art and having good friends are important to them, just as to us. A difference is history; theirs is much longer and with more episodes of wars and with greater suffering.
Discussing politics may be awkward and/or uncomfortable. I suppose that if I were from a distant planet and visiting Earth, I would be unable to decide which government, USA or USSR, lied to its citizens the most about the other country; quite possibly a tie, each for domestic political advantage and at different times. Economics might be a more fruitful discussion topic because of the change from the Soviet era to now. In areas near train / subway stations you might see MacDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets, but also remember that while the USA has great technology, our astronauts must fly on Russian rockets.
Practical tourist tips:
Absolutely do not take the visa / passport requirements lightly:
You must be invited by someone or some firm within Russia to get a Visa. Issuance of a visa may take longer than you expect, party because President Trump closed down the Russian consulate in San Francisco which seemed one of the fastest places to get a Russian visa. No doubt RoadScholar can arrange to get an invitation for the group and can greatly assist in getting visas. Do not miss deadlines. Make certain that all documents show your name with the exact same spelling (e.g., if your passport says James have everything else say James, not sometimes Jim)
Pickpockets:
Pickpockets in St. Petersburg may have professional certifications. A very savvy woman in my group, who is a Navy nurse veteran and very competent, lost everything: purse with passport, credit cards, cell phone. About the only other person in the cafe was a mother with a young child. A surveillance camera showed she was the one who had artfully covered the victim's purse with her own scarf and then got up and walked out with child, scarf and purse, probably to an accomplice who would have quickly disappeared with the purse leaving just an apparently innocent mother and child. Probably an Academy Award performance.
On the Positive Side:
I and my buddy who I met on the trip (a '6 2" former personal trainer / rugby player )had no qualms about walking a few blocks from the hotel to find a local bar with a good beer selection. Many Russians in the major cities in 2016 speak English to at least some extent. We had a good time suggesting how they could convert the bar to a USA Western Cowboy theme bar. (I live in Montana).
Russian Friendly Attitude:
About like our own country. A woman working in a subway ticket booth seemed displeased that we did not have correct change and could not understand her Russian. Would New York City be any different? Other than that, never any problem. A smile and a few words of Russian with a hopeless accent help.
Language:
Years ago, before internet, I tried to learn a bit of Russian in an evening course and of course immediately forgot whatever I learned and even remnants I'll mispronounce. But giving it a good try helps!
Now on-line translators abound. The Russian / Cyrillic alphabet is related to ancient Greek, as is ours. If you simply learn the letters you can sometimes guess important cognate words. туалет means TOILET
-Steve