http://www.dorogadomoj.com/se03abv.html
The link above is the shortest most direct aid I have found for learning the Russian Alphabet.
Quoting the page:
"Russian alphabet can be easily learned in one hour.
.. Russian alphabet is phonetic, or nearly phonetic. This means that every SOUND in Russian language has a corresponding LETTER in the alphabet. ... This means that once we learn how to pronounce Russian letters we can read all Russian. We might not understand, but we will be able to read. If we can read, we can understand already a lot.
... they use a lot of foreign words and by being able to read it, we will be able to understand what are they talking about. There is no subject called "spelling", there is no need for it. Children start reading very early. "
I hope this post will encourage Forum Readers to pick out words using their knowledge of the Russian Alphabet.