I fly into Russia a fair bit (with NJE). Aviation is growing very fast there.
If I was trying to get a job in Moscow, I would be contacting the bizjet operators who manage aircraft for owners. There's a bit of a demand for Russian speakers who can fly.
The controllers are slowly getting used to how the Westerners expect things. eg, STAR and SID info in a timely manner.
We were expecting a MEDUD arrival into Vnukovo the other night. We asked early in proceedings so as to not be caught out, he said "if you're ready, you can do X arrival, it's quicker". A very quick glance at the chart, "afirm, we can accept that". Job done.
Also, for start clearances you won't get one until Immigration has cleared you. This can take a while. The ground controller can only see a few flights, so if he says "no flight plan", it's probably not because it's not there, he just can't see it.
Recently govt flights are closing the airspace in Moscow. There have been delays of 5+ hours for start. (Putin's flights usually)
Once you're up to speed with Russia (I haven't needed a navigator yet) then it's no more challenging than London.
