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You can start by contacting US citizens/other foreigners living in Russia now. Probably they can give you good advice. Here are some contacts: EXPAT American, Benyaamin Forster, a Swiss citizen making honey in the Russian countryside (Pereslavl-Zalessky), Jason Campbell, an American also living in Pereslavl-Zalessky (his story), haven't found any direct contacts of him, try to ask about him the local diocese, as he is interested in making icons. You can use Google Translate to add a Russian translation to your request to increase the chances that they will answer and can translate their reply as well.

As of May 2023, 76,000 Russian Rubles or about 1,000 USD is a fairly significant amount of money for most people living in Russia. Most working people in Russia (not in Moscow or St. Petersburg) earn in the range of about 20,000-40,000 Rubles per month.

Just be very careful when sending money to anyone in Russia unless you are absolutely sure that it is a real person. Otherwise the risk of being scammed is very high. In our opinion, at least without regular live video communication, you should not trust anyone.

As of April 2023, 800 USD is about 64,000 Russian Rubles. Most working people in Russia (not in Moscow or St. Petersburg) earn in the range of about 20,000-40,000 Rubles per month. So it is not a small amount, but it is not too big either.

Yes, the 1997 Russian banknotes are still in circulation.

If I understand correctly, you have one banknote of 10 million rubles. In the early 1920s, because of hyperinflation, such banknotes were issued both in the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and in the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (picture 1 and picture 2). Not sure which one you have. The collectible value of the second banknote is about 13 USD. I haven't found information about the collectible value of the first banknote.

I have checked the prices of some basic foodstuffs in 1850 (plus or minus several years), such as potatoes, buckwheat, meat, flour, and workers' wages. Based on this, compared with today's prices and wages, 500 rubles in 1850 roughly equals about 1 million rubles (13,000 USD) in 2023.

Russian banks may refuse to exchange old dollars. Most often, dollar bills with a release date before 1996 are not accepted for exchange. Therefore, if you are going to Russia, then take new banknotes with you.

The collectible value of this banknote is about 10-15 USD. You can check the prices yourself on Ebay, just search for something like: 50000 Belarus rubles 2000.

As of February 2023, 100 euros is about 7,500 rubles. The average check in Kaliningrad cafes and inexpensive restaurants is in the range of about 600-1000 rubles (without alcohol). The average ticket price of a local museum is about 400-500 rubles. So this amount will be more than enough for 1-2 days in Kaliningrad. There is no danger in visiting Kaliningrad, just take cash with you as your cards most likely won't work.

The official exchange rate in the 1960s was 0.9 Soviet ruble to 1 US dollar. However, the Soviet ruble was not a convertible currency; on the black market, the price for 1 USD was about 8-10 Soviet rubles. So the amount of 80 rubles was equal to 8-10 dollars in the 1960s or about 70-100 dollars in 2023.

This is of course a very rough estimate, since the prices for all goods in the USSR were set by the state, therefore, for a number of goods, the purchasing power of the Soviet ruble could be high, while other goods simply did not exist or were in very limited supply (for example, cars).