Dear friends,
If you are attracted to Russian women and want to find your Russian soulmate, you may not be sure where to start your journey. There’s the option of flying to Russia, but it’s a humongous country – so that’s a no.
There’s the option of joining a dating site and finding your true love this way. But which dating sites are legit?
I am pretty sure that you have heard a lot of things about VKontakte.ru (VK.com) and are wondering if it is possible to use this social network for looking a Ukrainian or Russian mail order bride. And then there’s VKontakte and its dating app, called Lovina. Is this a good way to meet the Russian woman of your dreams?
Let’s find out what Vkontakte is, whether it’s a good platform for Western men to meet and chat with Russian women, and what are the best alternatives.
Reasons Why You Can Trust Krystyna
- Faithfully reviewed over 500 International online dating and matchmaking services
- She has been testing online dating services for over 10 years.
- Top Coach at the CoachFoundation.com
- Author of dating ebooks, including ‘International Dating Digest For Men: Finding Love Overseas’.
- Krystyna answers dating and relationship questions on Quora.com
What is VKontakte (VK.com)?
Before we discuss tips how to use VKontakte.ru for looking for a match from Ukraine, I would like to explain some essential things about this site.a
VKontakte, or VK, was founded in 2006/2007 by the parent organization Mail.ru Group. VK is a Russian online social media and social networking platform that has its headquarters in Saint Petersburg.
While VK is available in multiple languages (86, in fact), it’s Russian speakers who mostly use this social media site. The company’s mission is to connect people, companies, and services via convenient and easy-to-use communication tools.
VKontakte currently boasts 97 million active monthly users, 15 billion messages that are exchanged a day, and 1 billion daily likes.
Like other social networks, VK has various features like:
- Private messages
- News on the user’s feed or profile wall
- Public, group, and events communities
- Like buttons
- An SMS service
- Audio uploads and shares
- Voice and video calls
- Stories
- Money transfers
- VK Pay
- VK Music
- VK Live
- Stickers
- Market platform
- Gifts
- Games
- Advertising platform
VK is available on iOS and Android smart devices, and there’s a desktop app too.
In 2021, vk.com was the 12th most visited site in Russia with 3.77 million visitors. However, it’s the 3rd top site in Russia according to rank.
VK.com is not a dating site
That means not every woman registered on this site has intentions to find a Western man and move to another country. Thus you need really tons of time to find a Ukrainian woman who is willing to start a communication with a foreigner and is not against cross-cultural relationships.
Consequently, the “no reply” rate is really very high
But do not despair!!! If you show endurance and patience, you will surely find your destiny there.
Language barriers may be another huge disadvantage of using Vkontakte.ru
Not every girl on VK can speak a foreign language. Furthermore, not every girl on VK can speak English, although this language is a lingua franca over the world. Not every girl on VK wants to communicate in a foreign language although she can speak it.
Looking for a legit dating site? Check my reviews here:
VKontakte Launched Its Own Dating App Called Lovina
In 2019, VK launched Lovina, a free, experimental dating app that’s based on quick-fire videos. Users on Lovina can video chat with other members who liked their profile. On this dating app, there’s also a speed dating model where users can do limited video chats in a “carousel” manner with random Lovina members.
The reason VKontakte went for a more video-centric dating app is because the creators believe that video resembles real life. You can communicate with someone else in real time and see them for real.
The catch is that users need to have a live video chat or engage in a video story with other Lovina users. If they don’t, their chatroom is deleted within 48 hours. Lovina also offers matchmaking services, where they guide you and match you up with a Russian lady who seems to be perfect for you.
In November 2021, VK launched VK Dating, but the service was paused after about a month when users complained that their profiles were automatically added.
Can Western men use VKontakte.ru to find a Russian woman?
VK isn’t really well known outside of Russia and Eastern Europe. So maybe the question is also about whether Western men would know about VKontakte.ru to connect with women in Russia.
If a Western man did think about using VK to find and date their Russian lover, the social media and networking tool isn’t completely in English. Plus, finding the function to change the language settings may take you a while if you don’t know any Russian. Or, you may not be able to find the “change language” setting and could give up at some stage.
There’s also the question of the language barrier if you – as a Western man – want to communicate with a Russian lady. Sure, you can use Google Translate, but chances that your message, intention, and more will be lost in translation is big.
Russian women will also experience the same language challenge if they are interested in you. You can probably opt to use a legit translation service to help out with the communication issues, but this is a costly service (and one that’s often included – with a reduced or more attractive fee – on other online dating sites).
So yeah, if you know about VK, you can probably use VKontakte.ru to find and connect with your Russian soulmate. Your chances of success are doubtful, however.
(But are there better or easier ways to find and date a Russian woman?)
Minuses of using VKontakte as a dating app
There are quite a few cons to using VK as a dating app. I touched on some of these above, but let’s look at the others too.
- The language barrier
- Russian women don’t use VK to find foreign men and romance; they use the social media app to connect with their friends and family
- The reply ratio is very low because VK isn’t an online dating app
- It’s time consuming to find Russian women to chat with - literally like looking for a needle in a haystack to find someone who would want to date you on the site
- There have been numerous security breaches on the app, and in 2016, such an attack exposed the personal data of 171 million users (you surely don’t want to be one of them if there’s another security breach?)
How to find a Russian bride at VK.com - Guide by Krystyna
Step-by-step VK guide to find a Russian, Ukrainian or Belarussian mail order bride:
- Register on vk.com
- Fill out the profile (e.g. favorite music & books, hobby, etc.). Remember – you wish to find a Ukrainian mail order bride for life. Thus your profile must be interesting, humorous and extraordinary. Use nice but serious photos (no nude or drunk pics)
- After having filled out your profile you can start out your search. VKontakte has an extraordinarily detailed user search function, namely: you can filter by city, age, relationship status, or what a user finds “important in others”.
- Then you can send a message to the woman you are interested in. My tip is not to write ordinary and boring messages like “you are so pretty!” or “nice to meet! I am John from America!”. Be creative. Write something witty and unusual to get the woman’s attention. I have heard that a lot of beautiful girls get messages from foreigners (commonly from Muslim countries) that are very unexciting. Such messages are consequently ignored by the Ukrainian women.
- Be polite and do not tell immediately that you are looking for a woman from Ukraine to get married her. Ukrainian men do not write “looking for a wife” messages, so you do not, as well. The key purpose is always communication and friendship (hoping to find a woman for life ;)). My tip here is to start out very slowly and delicately.5.
- VK is a RUSSIAN social media site. Thus do not forget that the users will communicate in Russian, not in English or another foreign language. I would advise you therefore to write your first message in Russian.
- Google Translator is a beneficial tool to translate your messages into Russian. Of course, it’s not perfect; nevertheless the girl gets the meaning of what you are saying without any problems. If the girl is open for your communication you can ask her later if she does not mind to communicate in English.
- If you go to one of numerous groups dedicated to foreign languages or foreign countries/cultures, there will be a great number of single, young, and good-looking ladies from Ukraine and Russia, and your success rate to meet a match on VK will be considerably higher than writing messages to the women found by the user search function.
Using VK.com as a Russian dating app - 4 things to remember
- Do not write messages to the women who claim that they are in a relationship. Respect their private life!
- If the Slavic mail order brides say “no” or don’t reply, leave them alone and never bother them again on VK.com.
- Your profile is one of the keys to success, thus make big efforts to fill out it completely and install nice pictures. If your profile is empty and offers no personal information, the women may guess that you are a scammer and fake.
- VK.com is a great occasion to authorize legitimacy and sincerity of the women with whom you communicate on a dating site. You are wondering how to use this social site for these goals? Very easy!
Be aware of scammers at VK.com
Surely, you know this awful feeling, namely: your communication with a Ukrainian woman on a dating site is going perfect but you have still doubts because in your opinion, everything is too perfect and you are scared to get scammed.
You can find this woman on VK.com and write to her a greeting message how you are happy to find her there. If the woman does not respond you and claims that she does not know you, your doubts were not in vain.
Don’t forget being careful! From my personal experience, I can say you that there are no professional dating scammers like on International dating sites; nonetheless, this statement does not mean that you will not become a victim of fraud.
Our verdict: VKontakte is NOT a good and effective way to find a Russian woman
The best advice I can give you is to not use VK as a method to find your Russian soulmate.
Frankly, there are proper dating sites you can use instead. On these dating platforms, the Russian ladies are there to find a foreign or Western boyfriend, so your odds of meeting and truly connecting with someone skyrockets.
TOP 3 Alternatives to VKontakte
So what are the best 3 dating sites you can use to find your Russian true love?
Loveme.com / A Foreign Affair
Loveme.com is an online dating service for serious daters.
What I mean here is that Loveme.com isn’t for those who are looking to casually date. All the services Loveme.com offers help you foster a serious relationship with the person you are interested in.
- Free learning services like seminars, a blog, tips, and advice
- Single events and tours
- Matchmaking services
- Mobile version of the site
- Phone translation service
On Loveme.com, you can register, create a profile, search and browse, get matched, and access your inbox for free.
Then you can pay for certain services like a translated phone call. There are different rates for these services – you pay more if you aren’t a Platinum member. To become a Platinum member and access services at a discount, you’ll depart with US$95 (a once-off fee) and US$29.95 (a monthly membership fee).
Loveme.com also offers an Executive Plan, which is an extensive personalized service to help you find your Russian (or other nationality) soulmate.
- Dating services other platforms don’t offer
- Easy to use
- Lots of free resources
- Website is usable for differently-abled people
Are you intrigued by the services that Loveme.com offers? Lucky for you, I’ve looked at the site in detail, and more information can be found on my full review of Loveme.com.
BeHappy2Day.com
BeHappy2Day.com was created in 2004, and it’s a modern-looking website to meet your Russian dating needs.
Top dating and matchmaking services at BeHappy2Day.com are as follows:
- Personality quizzes to match you with the best Russian lady
- Apps for your smartphone so you can date while on-the-go
- Phone introductions so you can meet your true love over the phone (translation service is included)
- Live chat feature
- Send gifts
Only signing up and browsing on BeHappy2Day.com is free.
Then you need to buy credits to use the other services the dating site offers. You can buy credits in bundles, and the biggest bundle of 1,000 credits costs US$379. The smallest bundle of 20 credits is US$14.99.
Each service has a different quantity of credits attached to its use. For example, reading or sending a letter is 10 credits, while live chatting with your Russian lady is 1 credit per minute.
What We Like About BeHappy2Day.com
- Buy credits as you need, for the services you want to use
- Easy to use
- Modern site
- Various filters to find your lady love
Of course, I’ve thoroughly checked out and reviewed BeHappy2Day.com too, and it’s a legit site.
Cuteonly.com
Launched in 2005, Cuteonly.com is another online dating service you can use to find the Russian woman of your dreams (see also: Dating Russian Brides: How to Meet & Date Russian Women). The site is very particular – they prefer to only have “cute” women join, so you at least know there’ll be someone (and lots of them) cute and pretty on the site.
Top dating and matchmaking services at CuteOnly.com are as follows:
- Easy to sign up
- Women are vetted to ensure they are real
- Anti-scamming policy
- You can contact and chat with the women on any platform that works for you
- Various filters to search for women that matches your ideal lover
Sign up, profile creation, and browsing is free on Cuteonly.com.
To contact the woman you are interested in, you need to pay a subscription fee, which is US$29.99 for a month. However, there’s a discount if you sign up and pay for the 3- or 6-month subscription fee.
What We Like About Cuteonly.com
- Subscription fee is affordable
- Easy to use
- Vetting process
- Only “cute” woman on the site
Want to know more about Cuteonly.com and whether this is the right online dating site for you? Check out my complete Cuteonly.com review!
VK.com experience
In conclusion, DarkMatter tells about his VKontakte.ru experience:
Hi all!
I decided to try VKontakte.ru a few days ago. It looks exactly like facebook, however, one of the things I noticed some people actually post porn pictures. Facebook does not allow that. I practically copy and pasted my information from facebook onto this website.
I joined all the *English Speaking* groups to see if I can actually meet some people, and whats funny is I got some people from various parts of the FSU, heck even Africa wanting to talk to me. I put them on my friends list and the fun began.
I had one girl named Darya from Серпухов start talking to me. She started asking me questions on my background and other aspects on my life. We started corresponding for the last couple days, and she asks me if she wanted to speak to me on skype.
I agree, and this past morning I spoke to her on skype for over an hour telling me her dreams and what she wants to do in life, and I also tell her mine as well. What’s funny is she would say cute phrases like, “Is my English ok Joshua?” or “Yes yes Joshua I understand that very well.” or “Can you understand my accent?” One thing I notice she seems really mature, and well informed.
She tells me she has read various books from Gone with the Wind, Great Gatsby, etc. I had to redirect the topic at certain times because I had no answer, and I didn’t want to look stupid. As of right now, I’m not going to jump the gun and try to get into a relationship, however, this is a great start. She didn’t ask me if I had a girlfriend and I didn’t ask her if she had a boyfriend, as time passes I’ll ask.
At the same time, I have another girl from Kazakhstan trying also talk to me. We’ll see how that happens.
I’ve noticed this website mainly caters to people under 27, which is fine because I’m in this age category!
Some of the people actually post their phone numbers AND their addresses. Too bad I can’t read them, wait scratch that, I can read it, but I don’t understand it!
We’ll see how this progresses! 8)
Meet Krystyna, an esteemed international dating expert, blogger, and the founder of Ukrainian Dating Blog. With over 1000 articles published in English and German, she specializes in cross-cultural relationships, prevalent dating topics, and tackling romance scams.
Dear Krystyna,
What do you think about the website http://www.girlsmate.com/ ? Do you think women seeking for marriage will register in this website? While searching for profiles on the Internet, I’m a bit surprise to find the profile in this website, which seems a bit too casual…
Regards,
Eric
Dear Eric,
I am not sure that Ukrainian women with serious intentions to find a man abroad will register on girlsmate.com. In my opinion, this site is not like a professional matchmaking site or company but rather social community. The common goal of the girls registered on this site is traveling, not find a man for life.
Of course, there is the possibility to find a match from Ukraine, but it is quite low. I guess the profiles of Ukrainian and Russian girls are genuine but as said above, the girls want to travel and learn new cultures. The age group of the registered girls is about 20-up to 25 years. I am not sure if they are mature enough for marriage and family.
I would advice to use professional online dating sites. The services of such sites are not free but the possibility to find a wife is bigger than on girlsmate.com
Krystyna
Dear Krystyna,
Thanks for your reply.
I searched from an online dating site indeed and found a profile. As usual, I searched this profile information on the Internet and was surprised to find that she was registered on this “travel companion” website.
One thing I like Exxxxx Mxxxxx website is that similar to the age requirement, the profiles have indication on the race of the partner they are looking for.
Regards,
Eric
Hi Krystyna,
How are you doing? I’m a single guy from Cape Town, South Africa. I am 33 years old, 178cm tall, non drinker, non smoker, and a Fitness Professional by trade.
I’ve just purchased a plane ticket to St Petersburg, Russia, and will arrive on Saturday, 6th October 2012, and depart back home on Thursday, 18th October 2012.
I thought I might as well buy an actual ticket and meet real Russian women in person than to spend too much time online. Are there any tips you have for me? I am a total extrovert so I have no problem stopping strangers in the streets, malls, cafe’s and just introducing myself.
Are Russian women open to being approached by strangers if they are foreign and English speaking? Not to blow my own horn, but I consider myself reasonably good looking and I have toned, athletic physique as I work out six days a week.
I would appreciate your advice. I have already signed up with http://www.russiancupid.com and they look legit to me.
Nazeem
Dear Krystyna,
As far as I could remember what I had read from the Internet, it is a tradition for women in Russia to get married early. Do you mean that the situation is different or has changed in Ukraine?
Regards,
Eric
Met my wife on VK and we’ve been married for almost 4 years now.
Hi Tobbe,
we see that it is possible to meet a wife on VK.com but challenging as well. Good luck! Krystyna
Hello, good morning my name is Jaime Lopez , I just want to say that I have been on russian dating sites for 10 months and pretty much they’re scams they want you to pay for everything from sending a text to receiving a text to sending a picture to receiving a picture never got the chance to even know if that person was the person that I was sending the text to and that person sometimes I see her on other dating sites and she doesn’t even know who I was,so dating sites no go. Right now I am on VK I have meet women and men but no luck.. One thing is maybe I just don’t know how to use vk right. That’s what I think 🤔 but I’m not giving up l want to find my Slavic half . For some reason or another I keep getting pictures of beautiful ladies in swim suits or bra and underwear they are very beautiful but it looks like they are models for a modeling agency and that’s about 97% of pictures. Maybe I just don’t know if I am on the right site of vk🤷♂️🤔. I would appreciate your input. Thank you and have a great day.