Olvaranim

The recent case was successful, yes. The visa was issued. 

On average, it takes about a year for russian citizens to be cleared for a visa after AP in Poland. 
That's a disturbing statistic, but accurate. 
There's even a case with 15 months long AP (still in progress). The couple in question is getting ready to file writ of mandamus. 
Another visa was issued recently after 296 days of AP and also thanks for mandamus.
The vast majority of these cases (K1 and CR1/IR1 both) were triggered by petitioner's current occupation, listed in TAL, or some sort of a government related job.

On average, it takes about a year for russian citizens to be cleared for a visa after AP in Poland. 
That's a disturbing statistic, but accurate. 
There's even a case with 15 months long AP (still in progress). The couple in question is getting ready to file writ of mandamus. 
Another visa was issued recently after 296 days of AP and also thanks for mandamus.
The vast majority of these cases (K1 and CR1/IR1 both) were triggered by petitioner's current occupation, listed in TAL, or some sort of a government related job.

That's great! I'm coming from the usual requirement and experience of dosens citizens who applied for this visa to get to Poland. Better safe than sorry. My visa was issued by France without tickets even, with a detailed plan for that trip.

Marriage, Divorce or birth certificates from Russia have no expiration date. The document is valid as long as the fact (it is issued for) stands, and you can apply for a replacement any time if needed.
Also there's no expiration date for the translations, don't forget about those.
Police clearance certificates from Russia and other countries, your mom resided for 6+ months after her 16th birthdays, are valid for a year for the Embassy in Kazakhstan (even for 2 years for the Embassy in Warsaw).
Also your mom needs to upload your original birth certificate with a translation to NVC and bring it to her interview later. 

As it is usually stated on the website of almost every embassy and still russian cases have being transferred to different countries. 
It's always worth asking if needed 🤷
Personally I don't see a point in transferring from Poland with a valid Schengen visa, as it's a designated embassy, we'll aware of russian documents. 

About a dozen of Russian citizens (that I know of) attend their interviews in Warsaw on a monthly basis with zero issues on entering Poland. At least 5 fiancées had their interviews on January 2, 3 and 4. 
Mine interview (CR1/IR1) is also scheduled in Warsaw. 
The keys for russian citizens are:
1) apply for a tourist Schengen visa with a visa center of loyal countries: Italy, France, Spain or Hungary (in Russia). Act like a tourist don't mention Poland on your application. 
2) enter Schengen area by flying in the country that issued you a visa (best option for both short-term and long-term visas, but critical to short-term visas nowadays). Again act like a tourist, you're there for Colosseum or Champs-Élysées.
3) enter Poland by air or by land (train or car) from that European country, even the same day. If by air, buy a separate ticket from that European country to Poland. For example, if you book a ticket Moscow - Istanbul - Rome and a separate ticket Rome - Warsaw, then you enter Schengen area in Italy (go through border control (visa check)), pick up your luggage, check-in, drop off your luggage again and then head to a assigned gate without any additional border control, as there are no administrative borders within Schengen area. 
So the citizens of Russia are allowed to enter Poland only from other Schengen country (not through the external border of Schengen zone).
 
As for interview time frames for CR1/IR1 in Warsaw, NVC usually sends an interview letter in 35-45 days after DQ. An interview date is in 85 days after DQ on average. 

About a dozen of Russian citizens (that I know of) attend their interviews in Warsaw on a monthly basis with zero issues on entering Poland. At least 5 fiancées had their interviews on January 2, 3 and 4. 
Mine interview (CR1/IR1) is also scheduled in Warsaw. 
The keys for russian citizens are:
1) apply for a tourist Schengen visa with a visa center of loyal countries: Italy, France, Spain or Hungary (in Russia). Act like a tourist don't mention Poland on your application. 
2) enter Schengen area by flying in the country that issued you a visa (best option for both short-term and long-term visas, but critical to short-term visas nowadays). Again act like a tourist, you're there for Colosseum or Champs-Élysées.
3) enter Poland by air or by land (train or car) from that European country, even the same day. If by air, buy a separate ticket from that European country to Poland. For example, if you book a ticket Moscow - Istanbul - Rome and a separate ticket Rome - Warsaw, then you enter Schengen area in Italy (go through border control (visa check)), pick up your luggage, check-in, drop off your luggage again and then head to a assigned gate without any additional border control, as there are no administrative borders within Schengen area. 
So the citizens of Russia are allowed to enter Poland only from other Schengen country (not through the external border of Schengen zone).
 
As for interview time frames for CR1/IR1 in Warsaw, NVC usually sends an interview letter in 35-45 days after DQ. An interview date is in 85 days after DQ on average. 

About a dozen of Russian citizens (that I know of) attend their interviews in Warsaw on a monthly basis with zero issues on entering Poland. At least 5 fiancées had their interviews on January 2, 3 and 4. 
Mine interview (CR1/IR1) is also scheduled in Warsaw. 
The keys for russian citizens are:
1) apply for a tourist Schengen visa with a visa center of loyal countries: Italy, France, Spain or Hungary (in Russia). Act like a tourist don't mention Poland on your application. 
2) enter Schengen area by flying in the country that issued you a visa (best option for both short-term and long-term visas, but critical to short-term visas nowadays). Again act like a tourist, you're there for Colosseum or Champs-Élysées.
3) enter Poland by air or by land (train or car) from that European country, even the same day. If by air, buy a separate ticket from that European country to Poland. For example, if you book a ticket Moscow - Istanbul - Rome and a separate ticket Rome - Warsaw, then you enter Schengen area in Italy (go through border control (visa check)), pick up your luggage, check-in, drop off your luggage again and then head to a assigned gate without any additional border control, as there are no administrative borders within Schengen area. 
So the citizens of Russia are allowed to enter Poland only from other Schengen country (not through the external border of Schengen zone).
 
As for interview time frames for CR1/IR1 in Warsaw, NVC usually sends an interview letter in 35-45 days after DQ. An interview date is in 85 days after DQ on average. 

Moscow medical is in the middle of moving to a different address, and they chose the holidays as the least busiest season to effectively do that.
They are going to announce their new address right after the holidays, but you can book the appointment via the phone for the 2nd half of January.

I just double checked, there are two K1 cases that US Embassy in Bangkok agreed on taking after the emails from US Senators, one was transferred from Warsaw at the beginning of November, another one 6 days ago. Both applicants stay in Russia without a residency in Thailand. Maybe it's worth trying again?

I just double checked, there are two K1 cases that US Embassy in Bangkok agreed on taking after the emails from US Senators, one was transferred from Warsaw at the beginning of November, another one 6 days ago. Both applicants stay in Russia without a residency in Thailand. Maybe it's worth trying again?

At first the applicant received the usual auto answer from the Embassy stating that they are tiny/busy/etc and would consider transferring a case, only if an applicant was in Mongolia physically. So the persistent applicant described all personal issues with Shengen visa (to ties, no stable job, no travel history) and mentioned all other US Embassies that ignored or refused to take her case (quite a list, I'd say) and received the Embassy's consent with the next letter!
From what I know this information wasn't posted here on VJ.
You see, the vast majority of the beneficiaries from Russia are less comfortable posting or even reading smth on the international forum and tend to stick to russian-speaking groups digging for information, especially these days. 
As for their English-speaking petitioners, they usually hire the lawyers even for straightforward cases and sometimes trust them blindly even after getting some contradictory info. For instance, that the citizens of Russia are not allowed to enter Poland by any means or that the couple should wait for the Embassy in Moscow to resume its operations (my personal favorite). 
So back to topic, the beggars can't be choosers. It's wise to email all accessible embassies. 

Personally, I think that Germany is a better option in this scenario, because the purpose on this visa would not be the tourism, but a humanitarian reason. When it comes to tourist visas, Germany is definitely not the first choice. By far.
And Poland doesn't issue visas for Russian citizens at all.
Thankfully I have a valid Shengen visa, аnd I wouldn’t want to lie to one consulate for the sake of being able to get to another.

I'm positive about that. The citizens of Russia have to translate all their documents in Russian for each and every Embassy by default, Warsaw and Kazakhstan included. 
It's also worth mentioning that recently two separate immigrant cases (IR2 and CR1) without any ties to Ukraine (by birth, physical adress or Crimea residency) got assigned to the Embassy in Frankfurt. 
A test maybe? At least Germany issues Shengen visas to Russian citizens, no lies needed when applying for it, and it's easier to get there with a stopover in just one country, not two. 
I would love to have my case transferred there. Well, that's just a wishful thinking.

I'm positive about that. The citizens of Russia have to translate all their documents in Russian for each and every Embassy by default, Warsaw and Kazakhstan included. 
It's also worth mentioning that recently two separate immigrant cases (IR2 and CR1) without any ties to Ukraine (by birth, physical adress or Crimea residency) got assigned to the Embassy in Frankfurt. 
A test maybe? At least Germany issues Shengen visas to Russian citizens, no lies needed when applying for it, and it's easier to get there with a stopover in just one country, not two. 
I would love to have my case transferred there. Well, that's just a wishful thinking.

At first the applicant received the usual auto answer from the Embassy stating that they are tiny/busy/etc and would consider transferring a case, only if an applicant was in Mongolia physically. So the persistent applicant described all personal issues with Shengen visa (to ties, no stable job, no travel history) and mentioned all other US Embassies that ignored or refused to take her case (quite a list, I'd say) and received the Embassy's consent with the next letter!
From what I know this information wasn't posted here on VJ.
You see, the vast majority of the beneficiaries from Russia are less comfortable posting or even reading smth on the international forum and tend to stick to russian-speaking groups digging for information, especially these days. 
As for their English-speaking petitioners, they usually hire the lawyers even for straightforward cases and sometimes trust them blindly even after getting some contradictory info. For instance, that the citizens of Russia are not allowed to enter Poland by any means or that the couple should wait for the Embassy in Moscow to resume its operations (my personal favorite). 
So back to topic, the beggars can't be choosers. It's wise to email all accessible embassies. 

At first the applicant received the usual auto answer from the Embassy stating that they are tiny/busy/etc and would consider transferring a case, only if an applicant was in Mongolia physically. So the persistent applicant described all personal issues with Shengen visa (to ties, no stable job, no travel history) and mentioned all other US Embassies that ignored or refused to take her case (quite a list, I'd say) and received the Embassy's consent with the next letter!
From what I know this information wasn't posted here on VJ.
You see, the vast majority of the beneficiaries from Russia are less comfortable posting or even reading smth on the international forum and tend to stick to russian-speaking groups digging for information, especially these days. 
As for their English-speaking petitioners, they usually hire the lawyers even for straightforward cases and sometimes trust them blindly even after getting some contradictory info. For instance, that the citizens of Russia are not allowed to enter Poland by any means or that the couple should wait for the Embassy in Moscow to resume its operations (my personal favorite). 
So back to topic, the beggars can't be choosers. It's wise to email all accessible embassies. 

The reason I mentioned Mongolia specifically is that the Embassy there has actually agreed on taking one of cases of Russian citizens recently. However that applicant chose another Embassy, so no further information.
But agree that a K1 applicant from Russia has more chances in Latin America even, considering the Israel doesn't accept any new cases for now.

As there are no issues with your English obviously, try Mongolia, Thailand (recently accepted a few cases without any visa or residency, but you would need a "not married certificate" from ZAGS and a letter from a Senator), Nicaragua, Dominican republic. It took about 5 months to receive an interview letter in Mexico, but that fiancée was a resident. 

If ustraveldocs is showing you Russian addresses for delivery/pickup, you need to contact support and they'll update your country to Poland. 

Once you receive your approval from USCIS (NOA2), the next step is NVC, and it takes about 1-2 months now to receive a new case number (starting with WRW for Warsaw). Then it takes another 4-5 weeks for the Consulate to prepare the case for the interview and send the instructions. 
In a nutshell it's OK to schedule the K1 interview in Warsaw with an estimation of 3 months waiting period after receiving NOA2 

The German visa is extremely hard to get nowadays, especially without long Shengen visas in the past. It's always better to stick to the countries who issue visas regularly for russians like France, Italy and Spain, keeping in mind some special requirements and the season. For example, Greece is definitely not the best choice for winter.
Hungary is an option if you need a visa ASAP (for instance I got only 46 days between my IL and interview date), but the Consulate requires all tickets and hotels fully prepaid, preferably non-refundable.

The German visa is extremely hard to get nowadays, especially without long Shengen visas in the past. It's always better to stick to the countries who issue visas regularly for russians like France, Italy and Spain, keeping in mind some special requirements and the season. For example, Greece is definitely not the best choice for winter.
Hungary is an option if you need a visa ASAP (for instance I got only 46 days between my IL and interview date), but the Consulate requires all tickets and hotels fully prepaid, preferably non-refundable.

Tour agencies can have different appointment slots available than what's available to you as an individual. So it's only worth trying an agency if you can't get an appointment on your own, in my opinion. Which can happen depending on what region you live in and how in demand appointments are. In that case, it might be better to get an appointment first before commiting to a specific country if you're on a time crunch. On a whole, the paperwork for an EU tourist visa is very easy and straightforward. It's only a few pages and the American spouse/fiance/family member can help fill everything out correctly in Latin letters. Tour agencies aren't necessarily bad as my Russian in-laws have only ever used agencies for visas and have never had any problems. In fact, the in-laws think we're a bit stupid for doing it on our own. But for something this important, you'd definitely want to triple check everything before any agency submits it.