Is it possible to apply for Russian passport by mail/internet in North America?

There is a limited number of Russian consulates across the vast territory of North America, and it would be quite inconvenient to have to attend one of them in person for passport renewal, especially since at least some of them appear to require lengthy prior appointments.

Is there perhaps any way to apply for a Russian passport by mail or over the internet, when abroad?

I recall seeing some info on the SF web-site that mail applications were discontinued (this info has since been removed, it appears), is there any information why and when it was discontinued?

It seems like the present regulations might require in-person appearance, but it's somewhat difficult to track when such regulations were introduced and what were the prior ones.

Does federal law cover this at all?

It seems like Федеральный закон № 114-ФЗ от 15 августа 1996 г. says the following:

Паспорт оформляется гражданину Российской Федерации по его письменному заявлению о выдаче паспорта, поданному лично, через его законного представителя или в форме электронного документа с использованием информационно-телекоммуникационных сетей общего пользования, в том числе сети Интернет, включая единый портал государственных и муниципальных услуг

Is there any way to construe USPS or FedEx/UPS as one's legal representative? Or how does one make the whole application through the internet and/or mail?

Are there perhaps any other developments for a more speedy passport issuance than the personal attendance plus the three months for processing?