gates, where they have them, are now closed until you scan your card. A few older stations I was at had no gates just scan terminals, or maybe they were newer?
While there may be issues with their government, the people of Russia impress the crap out of me. Friendly and helpful, even when they don't understand you, they will find someone who does. I've seen a guy in a wheelchair have a bunch of people help him when he dropped stuff, a umbrella returned when a guy didn't know he dropped it, people willing to jump down into the tracks to retrieve a cell phone for a girl (they were stopped thankfully and an attendant showed up as we were leaving with a special insulated stick with a claw on the end to get it). Same here in Estonia where I am now, asking for help downtown and the guy I first asked didn't know, so other people chimed in.
Oh, and Estonia has also surprised me, holy crap beautiful women, rivaling Czech for awesomeness. I didn't expect Nordic looks either, reminds me of Norway, but better. And really good food too, hitting a burger place tomorrow that we found after dinner tonight. Man, it was awesome smelling, and they had Poutine (not that I actually like it, but they advertised it!)