My Russian visa begins on June 2nd. I was wondering if anybody knows if I took a flight on June 1st from D.C., but because the flight arrives in Moscow on June 2nd, if that is ok? Or does my date of departure HAVE to be June 2nd? Thanks! (sorry if this question isn't in the right spot - wasn't sure where the best place was to post this)

Logically I would suggest it's fine since the visa has to be valid as of the date you enter the country and that will be June 2nd on both counts.

However, logic does not always apply to situations like this. Hopefully someone else can chime in here with a more certain answer.

As long as you arrive in Russia after 12:01 AM on June 2 (Russia time) you will be fine.

Airlines (by some kind of international agreement) are responsible for returning passengers who are refused entry into a country on a flight. No airlines wants to foot the bill to send you back home for free, so that when you fly into Russia you can be sure the staff in DC will check your Russian visa six ways from Sunday to be sure that everything is letter perfect before they let you on to that plane.

No worries.