As I recall Russia does offer a transit visa, though you do actually need to get it, I don't believe it's issued on arrival. As long as you're transiting < 24 hours (I think, you'd have to look further into it) then you don't need the full fledged tourist visa.
At SVO there's actually a transit hotel, across the street from the airport which I'm told has an entire wing dedicated to those pax, while the other wing is for everyone else. The transit wing being staffed by police on every floor to make sure no one enters the country illegally. Awesome if true, if not, it's a story I'd still like to believe, it just adds to my fascination with Russia.
If the layover is short, I'd assume there'd be something like CX service HKG-YVR-JFK, or PR JFK-YVR-MNL. You can get off if you want, but you can only hang out in the holding room, so as to avoid customs, or just sit on the plane and wait. Meanwhile us ground handlers take out the can of crew bags, add the new luggage for pax travelling just 1 leg, then send it on it's way.