Soviet-style bureaucracy
The week's news at a glance.
Moscow
Moscow city officials decreed this week that employers must get special permits to hire non-Muscovites. Any Moscow-based company that wants to hire a person who is registered as a resident of a different city will have to submit 12 application forms and documents, and a special commission will take up to a month to study the application. Moscow firms said the new rule violated the post-Soviet constitution, which guarantees Russian citizens the freedom to work anywhere in the country. About 1 million Moscow workers—one-sixth of the city’s workforce—are registered as living outside the city limits, most of them in the suburbs.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
What's wrong with America's air traffic control systems?
Today's Big Question The radios and radar keep going out at Newark International
-
8 splashy items to elevate any pool party
The Week Recommends Fire up the snow cone machine, and turn on that outdoor movie projector
-
What to know as student loan collections resume
the explainer The restart comes as part of the Trump administration's reversal of Biden-era policies