You are not required to declare (pay taxes on) anything under $1000.00 USD upon entry to US. Same applies to Russian custom’s currency policy. Easiest way to transfer would be to deposit money in the Russian branch of an American bank and make a withdrawal or transfer funds into a different account once you live Russian Federation.

You can bring without declaration to US <$10,000. However, the lates update I found on Russian custom's declaration - you can take out of the country without declaration $1,500. I was just wondering - it is the latest one?

Che v nature muchatsa, taschit' s soboy tonnu cash i drozhat'??? Otrivaesh account tut i tam i "wire" svoyu valyutu bez problem kuda dushe ugodno. Fees ochen' malen'kie. Ya v proshlom godu za $10,000 zaplatil $40 v Harris Banke. I nikakoy golovnoy boli...