My wife and I are planning to visit Moscow and St Petersburg in May. We usually just access cash from ATM machines (with Maestro/Cirrus) when we travel. From what I've read so far, it seems to be easy in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Would be really grateful if anyone has had any recent experiences or has any advice?

to my knowledge, the maestro and cirrus will work only in your country. Just in case it is better to use mastercard...(noun phrase)

It has been 2 years since I was in Russia, but I lived there for 4 years and usually did not have problems using atms. Initially I tried to stick to using Citibank but Sberbank and others worked as well. But use a "bank" atm only. Don't use the ones in metro stations or stores, sometimes those are fake or get hacked for your number, but I never had a problem in 4 years of living there.

<<to my knowledge, the maestro and cirrus will work only in your country. Just in case it is better to use mastercard...(noun phrase)>>

Your knowledge is terrible. The Cirrus cash network is global.

I lived there last year. I never had a problem with using my ATM card. I agree with bookwurm70 though, don't use cash machines in metro stations or stores. Banks with cash machines are plentiful around Moscow and St. Petersburg.

<<<I agree with bookwurm70 though, don't use cash machines in metro stations or stores.>>>

Thanks for the heads up!

I was there exactly this time last year. We didnt have trouble with ATMS, once we found them. It seemed that it was always a holiday and the banks were closed.

Dont wait until you are down to your last ruble as we did not find them too plentiful. We found one in a lobby of a big hotel, but they ran out of money. So yes, you can use them, but take out enough for a few days at a time