Nope... It's in a combination of English and Turkmeni.

Having some document in hand is a plus. Having it in Russian would be better but the mystery of the English/Turkmeni might add to the feel of international officialness to it. Is there a stamp on it? A signature? Those are often appreciated in that part of the world as well.

Per law, or at least our collective understanding and experience with it, you should be ok here. I do hope you'll report back and let us know how it went. Hopefully, this will be a non-issue on what sounds like otherwise a pretty interesting trip. All the best!

Here's what the document looks like: http://i.imgur.com/1yyw8NB.jpg

Correcting myself: according to Transaero (UN) website, you MAY transit through DME and VKO to/from Kazakhstain without a Russian visa, even if you check luggage.

Update: I flew AB JFK-DUS-DME and then S7 from DME-ASB. I got the S7 boarding pass in JFK after they looked at my Turkmen LOI. AB gate agent at DUS who took my boarding pass asked to see my Russian visa, and I presented the Turkmen LOI again.

At DME, it was seamless. With my S7 boarding pass, I followed signs to international transit, showed my boarding pass went through security, and then entered the departure area. Nobody at DME asked to see anything re Turkmenistan or looked for a Russian visa.

good stuff. =)

I think many of the issues people paint of Russia are way overblown.

I tend to agree with you. There's some "stuff" for sure but everywhere has their quirks. Glad the LOI worked in this case. I've wondered how that turned out...

I recently had to transit at DME from Easyjet to Rusline on the way in then Izhavia to Easyjet on the way back. Both ways I gave myself 3 hours to transit in DME. I could have managed with far less both ways. Indeed I was favourably impressed by DME. It all worked very efficiently.
On the way in from LGW, there was no line at immigration and travelling with hand luggage only was straight out, within a few minutes. Checkin at Rusline was relatively easy to find, with an agent who either spoke no English or wasn't particularly friendly. I found the domestic gates at DME confusing as there seem to be two sets of gates with the same number but with a different prefix, which doesn't appear on the boarding pass. Getting through security was relatively painless and quick.
On the return flight with Izhavia, we arrived at a bus gate and my bag (wasn't accepted as carry-on) delivered within about 10 minutes. Had checked in online with Easyjet and did satisfy their carry-on rules, so went straight through immigration and security, again both quickly and painlessly.
Both ways I estimate from arrival gate to waiting in the departure gate area took no more than 30 minutes.

I'm looking at a short trip to URC (Urumqi, China) and S7 offers the best flights via DME. Out bound I have 5 hours in DME, but one of the return options allows only 55m in DME to transfer to my MUC flight. Doable or suidcial? There is a flight 4 hours later...

Hmm.... my flight from URC to DME is 40 min late on average: https://www.flightstats.com/v2/fligh...ing/S7/954/URC

Well, since your second leg is on the same PNR you will def be accomodated on the next flight to MUC. Spending 4 hours in DME is not much fun, but hardly a complete misery. S7 has an okay lounge (not as great as some Asian carriers, but better than most airlines biz lounges in continental Europe).

Nope I have to be in Munich that day at a certain time. I know they will accomodate me and I have a PP card to use the lounge (the MUC flight is A319 so no business class and lounge access). So unfortunately I had to go back to plan A and fly via PEK, adding extra hours...