Best "snark" from the comments:

I've learned more from Yakov Smirnov. [...] "In America, you choose boyfriend! In Post-Soviet Russia, boyfriend choose you!"
Beyond that, I don't have much to offer from my personal experience! In my final months in Moscow, I did briefly date a Russian guy, but things didn't get too deeply involved because we knew that I would be returning to the US before too long. And, as you'd imagine, the Relationship Dynamic is different when it's two males.

He was a very nice guy, though. One thing I found very endearing is that he really admired black men and had a crush on Denzel Washington -- which was a refreshing change from the rather casual "обезьяны" racism I'd heard from some Russian people.