MySQL & Cyrillic Symbols.

To work with Cyrillic symbols in MySQL:

    sudo gedit /etc/mysql/my.cnf

Add next settings in section [mysqld]:

    default-character-set=utf8
    character-set-server=utf8
    collation-server=utf8_general_ci
    init-connect="SET NAMES utf8"
    skip-character-set-client-handshake

and this to section: [mysqldump]:

    default-character-set=utf8

reboot mysql and enjoy!
Also create table code:

    CREATE TABLE $tablename CHARACTER SET utf8