Planning to ride to the eastern end of the Mediterranean this May/July (I know it´ll be more or less unbearably hot, but this is the only possible time for me to do it this year!)

For starters, we´re looking into the possibility to ride through Russia, as well as a few other East European countries, that we havent visited before. Baltic states, Poland, Hungary, etc I´ve done many times. Been to Romania and Bulgaria, too, but that was 17 years ago.

I´ve ridden in some parts of Asia, Africa, Australia and Central America in the past, and not expecting this to be just plain sailing. I know it might be easier to take a little more westerly route, but we´re interested to see something new along the way. The bike´s a Vstrom 650, and we´ll travel 2-up with my girlfriend. Nobody else joining us at this time.

So, the route (just quickly out of Google, and this probably won´t be the final one, but to get a rough idea) at the moment looks like the following:

-Helsinki
-Virolahti
(Border crossing to Russia)
-Vyborg
-St.Petersburg
-Luga
-Pskov
-Ostrov
-Opochka
-Nevel
(Border crossing to Belarus)
-Viciebsk
-Orsha
-Mogilev
-Gomel
(Border crossing to Ukraine)
-Chernigov
-Kiev
-Bila Tserkva
-Uman
-Liubashivka
-Odessa
-Monashi
-Sarata
-Tatarbunary
(Border crossing to Romania)
-Galati
-Harsova
-Constanta
(Border crossing to Bulgaria)
-Varna
-Burgas
-Malko Tarnovo
(Border crossing to Turkey)
-Cerkezkoy
-Istanbul

Anyone ridden in those parts lately - I´m after experiences from all these countries, but especially Russia, Belarus & Ukraine?
How are the roads (and traffic) - and supposing you´re not carrying a tent, will it be tough to find accommodations? Are guarded, fenced parking lots for vehicles common in the cities?

Bike-insurance will of course be something to check. I will get a Green Card from my insurance company, but but may also need to get something at the borders.

If you´re planning to spend more time in the Mediterranean, and are willing to spend 10-12 hours on the saddle each day (we wont ride in the dark though - and we´ll take some rest once we reach Istanbul!) about how many days would you estimate for the ride from St. Petersburg to Istanbul?
I actually dont even know the distance just yet, but Tallinn to Thessaloniki without many detours was something like 2500 kms, may be it´s not far from that.

Any comments and suggestions on that route would be warmly welcomed!