My friend got a Russian tourist (ordinary) visa without any hassles, it took about 10 days to arrive.
Russian citizens are asked the same questions when filling out forms for the US visas as US citizens filling out forms for Russian visas (aka "additinal security questionnaire")

By the way, visas are not ONLY there to prevent "economic" immigration (as eri231 refers to in his/her post), visa regulations are there to REGULATE the entry and stay in any country, let it be Russia, US, UK, Sri-Lanka, Israel, Taiwan, you name it. These controls are there for the governments to have a clear understanding of purpose of visits, background of visitors, intentions of visitor's actions while in the country, etc. It does have to do with security, health and labor issues, not just "who wants to eneter the country and make a buck illegally."

By the way, process for getting a Russian visa is not at all cumbersome (if it is a tourist visa). You need an invitation (can be a telex from a hotel, takes 10 minutes to transmit, just make a reservation at the hotel, have them transmit the invitation by telex or fax to the nearesr Russian Consulate, and voila, you are ready to apply).

Happy Travels!

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited 05-02-2003).]