Janko's acrobatic strike stunned the Moscow crowd and Austria held firm to move to 16 points from six matches, eight ahead of third-placed Russia and seven ahead of Sweden who have played one game fewer.
Russia coach Fabio Capello handed competitive international debuts to Ivan Novoseltsev and Oleg Ivanov while an injury to captain Vasili Berezutski meant a debut for 19-year-old Nikita Chernov despite him never having played appeared in the Russian Premier League for his club side CSKA Moscow.
The hosts made a nervous start and Austria deservedly took the lead after 33 minutes.
Following a defensive mix-up, the ball was only cleared as far as Janko who produced a spectacular finish.
Marcel Koller's side should have doubled their advantage a minute later when an excellent cross-field pass by Zlatko Junuzovic put Julian Baumgartlinger through on goal but the Mainz midfielder's shot went just wide.
Russia improved after the interval with chances falling to Alexei Miranchuk and Yuri Zhirkov while at the other end Marcel Sabitzer brought a smart save out of Igor Akinfeev.
Despite some late pressure, the visitors were able to hold on to a vital three points.
(Reporting By Dmitriy Rogovitskiy; editing by Martyn Herman)
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