--- this is added to the bottom of /etc/profile.d/lang.sh ---

export LC_CTYPE=ru_RU.KOI8-R
export LC_COLLATE=ru_RU.KOI8-R

-------------------------------------------------------------

Note: If you run "locale", you can see more variables:

$ locale
LANG=en_US
LC_CTYPE=ru_RU.KOI8-R
LC_NUMERIC="en_US"
LC_TIME="en_US"
LC_COLLATE=ru_RU.KOI8-R
LC_MONETARY="en_US"
LC_MESSAGES="en_US"
LC_PAPER="en_US"
LC_NAME="en_US"
LC_ADDRESS="en_US"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_US"
LC_MEASUREMENT="en_US"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_US"
LC_ALL=

I modify only these two because I want to keep the English interface of programs and still be able to type/read correct Russian.

--- this is /etc/rc.d/rc.font ---

#!/bin/sh

# /etc/rc.d/rc.font
# Console russification script
# It is called from /etc/rc.d/rc.M

echo "Setting console font..."
/usr/bin/setfont -v /usr/share/kbd/consolefonts/Cyr_a8x16
for i in 1 2 3 4 5 6; do
	echo -ne "\033(K" > /dev/tty$i
done

echo "Loading Cyrillic keymap..."
/usr/bin/loadkeys /usr/share/kbd/keymaps/i386/qwerty/ru.map
/usr/bin/mapscrn /usr/share/kbd/consoletrans/koi2alt
echo "Right CTRL switches between En/Ru"

------------------------------------