why so many russians in freerolls

[DeadlySilent]

I'm lost on the part where if they pay an entry fee they gain nothing... If they win they definitely gain something, or do you mean something else? This is definitely a strange way of looking at all the Russians who play online poker though. Kinda like saying Eastgate won more money than an American would have had an American won instead of Eastgate the year he took down the Main Event.