Settlement Visa for Stepdaughter

[waitinggame52]

Hi,

Applied yesterday for settlement visa for 6 year old stepdaughter of my non-eu spouse. I am a uk citizen by birth, spouse has 2 year flr, daughter is in st petersburg temporarily (we hope!) in care of maternal grandmother.

The application is quite strong, should tick all the sole responsibility boxes etc.

My questions are practical ones if anyone knows the answers:

1) Processing time for st petersburg is given as 3 to 6 weeks for the 8 applications made in june. Anyone know roughly how long it takes in practice? VFS global staff suggested a month is the norm at the moment...
2) Will she get ILR as the stepdaughter of me, the sponsor, a uk citizen ? Or will she get FLR for the same period as my wife, her mother?
3) Will she get a Biometric Residence Permit similar to my wife's, or will she get a sticker in her passport ?
4) Are the applications processed in the UK or at UKBA sites in Russia ?
5) Are applications in Russia treated fairly or are we likely to find the application on the desk of a skill free prejudiced dearly beloved nationalist ECO determined to keep johnny foreigner the hell out of england ? This is a serious question. I've read other posts where the ECO's sound brutal and insane in their responses to applications, and very often don't even know their own rules.

Thanks in advance for all & any information!