Is it still necessary to manually fill out a migration card for Russia?

Question

Passengers travelling to Russia by plane are required to have a migration card giving their personal and visa details, the name and address of their host, and their signature. The card is filled out in duplicate; one half is given to the immigration official on arrival, and the other half on departure.

In my experience it had always been necessary to fill out these migration cards yourself, and they were always distributed on the plane in order to avoid queues at the airport. However, in the last year or so, whenever I've flown to Moscow, I have never been given the blank migration card in advance. Instead, it is given to me by the immigration official at the airport, completely filled out for me except for my signature.

Is it now standard for the migration cards to be filled in for you? I ask because the Aeroflot in-flight magazine still contains a conspicuous warning that all travellers must manually fill in the migration card. I see a lot of passengers reading the magazine and asking the flight attendants for these cards, only to be told that they're not necessary.

Is the pre-filling done only for certain types of passengers or only at certain airports?

Answer 1

Russian version of Sheremetyevo (SVO) contains this information:

Не допускается заполнение въезжающими на территорию Российской Федерации иностранными гражданами бланков миграционных карт непосредственно в залах прибытия аэропортов до начала пограничного контроля.

Въездные и выездные части миграционных карт (талоны «А» и «В») заполняются сотрудниками паспортного контроля в автоматическом режиме машинописным текстом.

It basically says that parts A and B are filled by border control officers with automation usage, and you cannot fill the migration card before the border control.

However, at the same page we find:

Выдача прибывающим иностранным гражданам бланков миграционных карт осуществляется:
- при следовании воздушным (морским, речным) транспортом — членами экипажей воздушных (морских, речных) судов;

So, technically, flight attendants must provide the migration cards, but in fact border control simplifies the procedure by filling out all the information for you. Consider this as an exclusion from rules, which works in highly loaded points of entry. The procedure may differ in other airports or other entry points in Russia.