Getting around Russia hitchhiking

Equipment. You will need a backpack, raincoat, good shoes, warm jumper, perhaps a tent, some cash (and not credit cards or cheques), also a gas cooker will help. Don't take too much stuff or you won't get a lift.
Where to start. You can wave down any car anywhere in Russia, and a driver (either taxi or a normal private car) will give you a lift, but only for money in a city. The good thing is that just a moment after you wave down a car, somebody will stop ready to give you a lift. The bad thing is that they will definitely want money. Usually it's about 8-10 R ($0.25-$0.3) for a kilometer inside a city.
So, it can take quite long to hitchhike from the city. It's much better and more efficient to go slightly outside of the city (by a local train, for example), go on a busy motorway and hitchhike there. The best places to hitchhike are gas stations (where the cars come out), special stops for trucks (where the driver have little picnics), next to traffic police stations or other places where drivers have to slow down.
Who'll give you a lift. Mostly truck drivers (but not international cargo trucks, because it's forbidden for them to pick up anybody), other people, who want to communicate.
How to increase your chances. The fastest way to hitchhike if you're a boy and a girl, because the drivers will always want to help a girl, and as there'll be a boy, the girl won't have any problems.
It's better to hitchhike when it's still daytime, somewhere around 8am and 8pm.
It's also nice to have a paper with your destination written. You can try to do it both in Russian and in English (to increase your chances that someone stops), but then the person who stops might want to just rob you
Relevant websites: You can read an interesting report (with photos) about hitchhiking in Russia by Peter Reitsma from Holland.