What are the odds of picking up an STD in Russia?

I’m a single 28-year-old U.S. male who may go to live in Russia for a few years. I speak Russian well and envision going out and meeting women for dates in my free time. I’d look forward to it, for the country has many beautiful – and smart – women. But I’ve read quite a few alarming reports about the rise of herpes, syphilis, HIV, and the whole range of other STDs in Russia and its neighbors in the CIS. How much danger would I be in of contracting something? Can I count on the usual forms of protection to keep me safe? I no fan of stereotypes about a people or a culture, but I need to be realistic.
(P.S.: I am NOT talking about picking up prostitutes. That is not on my to-do list. I’m talking about the everyday bar/club scene and dating circuit.)

lol @ the first answer. Don’t they teach you guys in the US about protecting yourself from sexually transmitted diseases/infections? Condoms? Why would you sleep with someone you “picked up” without one?

RUSSIAN DATING

The Woman Who Did $3.99 Professor Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (1848-1899) who also wrote under the pseudonyms Cecil Power; Olive Pratt Rayner; Martin Leach Warborough; J. Arbuthnot Wilson was a science writer, author and novelist; an able upholder of the theory of evolution. Born near Kingston, Ontario, Canada, the son of an emigrant Anglo-Scottish Protestant minister and grandson of the fifth Baron of Longueuil, he …

Woman Triumphant(La Maja Desnuda)- Keniston Hayward $3.99 “Excerpt from the book…”The title of this novel in the original, _La maja desnuda_, “The NudeMaja,” is also the name of one of the most famous pictures of the greatSpanish painter Francisco Goya….

The Friendships of Women $3.99 The principle and sentiment of friendship deserve a much larger share of the attention given alike in the life and the literature of our time to the passion of love. One would infer from most of the popular writings of the day that love is the only emotion worthy of notice. But surely there are in human nature other feelings which demand far more culture than they generally receive feelings which …