Yes, you'd be surprised. I had many friends, all vulnerable-looking 23 year old girls in towering heels and they used this "ride from a stranger" concept every single day for years. Believe me, I was shocked and apprehensive and my Mom was convinced I'd be murdered but it was shockingly safe and accepted. I do speak halfway decent Russian, and would certainly have been harder without it. Which is why I like the idea of this app, as it solves one of the problems. (Edit: I guess it doesn't really solve the language barrier, as it appears to be a Telegram app that likely involves some chatting to negotiate.)

That said, on my last visit, I used Uber many times, as it's incredibly cheap and requires no negotiation. But don't be in a hurry. The horrible traffic and very wide, divided streets of Moscow make it particularly challenging to navigate to a passenger's precise location, so it can be an extremely long wait even when free a vehicle is very close geographically. Perhaps LibreTaxi would help solve that by lowering the barrier to entry and drastically improving the number of cars available.

> Author was also implying that they were visiting Russia.

Yes, Russia especially is one of those places where every car on the road is a potential taxi and a lot of people use them.

I haven't visited personally but friends of mine who have did tell about their experiences on hailing rides from strangers without knowing the language. Don't take my anecdote as a safety recommendation or evidence of it.

It's a matter of cultural differences.

Uber/Lyft provides you with a sense of safety, but if you end up being a victim of a crime in an Uber in Russia, I'm not sure how much they can or will help you afterwards.

I suggest looking into the stats on sexual assault. The "OMG did you hear..." stories we tell each other aren't reflective of underlying reality.