Notice that the FCO website (
http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?...=1013618386379) has the following, possibly temporary, comment on the travel advice pages for Russia:
Two Russian airliners on internal flights crashed this morning. The British Embassy in Moscow has advised its staff not to travel on internal airlines for 24 hours, until the situation becomes clearer.
So the British Embassy staff are safe. Never mind any other British nationals who may have to travel.
Phileas Fogg, the old fashioned Russian/CIS airports have security before registration/check in, so it is possible to pull the trick you describe of transferring something naughty from the hold luggage to hand luggage after security. However, this does not apply to DME where the process is the more conventional (to the 'western' way of thinking) registration, including checking in of hold luggage, before security. There are (were?!) still gaps, but not as glaring as at other CIS airports.