Of course, this is just my personal experience with a 1 year business visa.
I have had several 'official encounters' in Russia. Near the Finnish border I had to sit in a black sedan for an hour while they wrote out every country I had ever travelled in (all 50), durations, political affiliation, mother's maiden name, etc.... Later I was pulled from the house where I was staying in a village and taken to the police station to have every page in my passport photocopied and again a 1 hour interview. Finally, I was woken up in the middle of the night by the military when camped near a river because it was a 'forbidden zone' and again, supervisors called, documents checked and I was made to move. Not to mention two border crossings, with a German motorcycle that isn't in my name, American license and a British passport with a very bad photo to where it looks fake.
To date, nobody has mentioned my 'business' visa. When they ask me "What is the purpose of your travel?" I respond with "To discover Russia!" or "To lean Russian!" or some such thing. So in my experience, it's not an issue.
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