1. It's as safe during days as you'd expect a 500k+ city to be. Nights are different: they're quiet, but amidst the quiet a devil or two lie. I once walked across the city to home (it was past midnight, so any public transportation ceased by that point) and met a couple of modern gopniks (by which I mean - being dressed quite stylishly, as is appropriate for today's middle-class youngsters in Russia). In the middle of the night, they begged me for 15 rubles "to ride [somewhere]" (public transportation-wise). I told them I don't have money and kept walking (mostly because I was too tired to deal with them in any way). Once it was clear for the fellows that I'm leaving completely, one of them started cursing at me out of anger that I didn't help him. I've decided to be careful and waited around until they left because they were in my way to the apartment and, like I said, I was tired; I'm not sure whether I had to, but I thought it would be safer to err on the side of caution. Other such walks always ended quietly, though I was minding the odd noises in the empty streets.

2. I have been fortunate enough, indeed: in 2012, I visited Europe (a few countries very briefly as a part of a bus tour), which left a big impression on me. It was after that that I decided that I want to learn German and move to Germany someday: people there are orderly, and I appreciate that. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity or guts to meet any foreigners on my way, so I haven't received any sort of sense as to how others perceive Russians. What you might have had been exposed to is the macho attitude that the Russian culture imposes onto its citizens: men have to be - or appear, at least - brave and bold beyond any reason so as to not appear weak, as the Russian culture punishes weakness hard. It's as bullshit as it sounds, and, like you've experienced, many of the same men are quite good people inside.

I have, however, been exposed to anti-Russian sentiments online and on TV. It's as immature as any nation- or race-based hatred gets. It's not to say that Russia has nothing to be criticized for or that Russia's government isn't pushing the same kind of propaganda to its people, but the way the attitudes appear, they're nothing more than children trying to fight for clothes or food instead of cooperation, understanding and taking care of each other. In fact, I notice that many of the traits and psychology of a single human being can be applied to a governmental thinking of at least those of the bigger countries.