The teaching is good, it's cheaper to live in, historically it is extremely interesting. It is also icier and windier than Moscow and has very obvious signs of decay. If anything it is more Western oriented than Moscow. I've heard that Kiev is a no-no at the moment as the IH school there was hit by the taxman and abrogated its contracts as a result of the money drain. Vilnius and Riga are beautiful cities in the Baltic States and the teaching is good, but speaking Russian is a no-no.
Several bookshops carry a good selection of novels etc in English.
The lines in Moscow are not too good and vary from district to district. Moscow isn't usually windy. I'm from Australia and have done so for over 3 years. All buildings are centrally heated in winter in Moscow and flats have all the basic facilities - like bath, shower, fridge, stove, hot water etc. I have a Commonwealth Bank Cirrus Maestro Card which can supposedly be used at some ATM's in Moscow.