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A well-known Russian journalist, head of the Center for Journalism in Extreme Situations  Oleg Panfilov in early November moved for permanent residency from Moscow to Tbilisi. In a conversation with journalists he explained that his decision was based on the fact that in Russia unknowns were constantly threatening him through the internet with physical lynching.

This news appeared on the internet on the 9th of November. To me this «news» was known two months ago: Oleg himself had told me about his desire to forsake Russia. In so doing no arguments in the form of threats did he name. I think

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This week's lunch with the FT features Peter Aspden sitting down for some sushi and a harmless bit of obsequiousness with Evgeny Lebedev, the son of Alexander Lebedev.  The conversation has some interesting points ... such as his potshots at newly wealthy Russians who throw their money at expensive art.  Evgeny strikes me as more intelligent and considerate than your average playboy - but then at other times he seems a bit out of touch.

"I feel very affiliated with Russia, what I see as its soul. Even with its landscape, that vastness that you can't grasp. Our history is violent and bloody: revolutions, war, turmoil. Even Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, they saw themselves as reformers but, on the

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I like Michele Berdy's columns in the Moscow Times.  Who knows how many times inaccurate translations have skewed our understanding of Russia in the mass media:

Надувать щёки is not, as the otherwise brilliant Kremlin translators would have it, "to be full of hot air." Sure, someone with a swelled head might also run off at the mouth without saying anything of value -- which is what "to be full of hot air" means. But Medvedev wasn't calling on officials to cut the crap. He was telling them to stop playing the big shot.

This is clear in the sentence that follows: Мы заинтересованы в притоке в страну капиталов, новых технологий и передовых идей (We want to see capital, new technologies and cutting-edge ideas coming into the country). The West, he asserted, is interested in the same thing: Знаем, что и наши партнёры рассчитывают на сближение с Россией для реализации

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Stephen Fidler at the Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece running today about the annual winter pipeline politics (though the sensible agreement yesterday in Yalta may diminish a lot of fears).  There are some interesting facts and numbers in the piece - for example the estimate that Gazprom's contract prices are sitting around $10 per million BTU, while LNG can be had on the spot market for $4 per million BTU.  In a refreshing change of pace, we see Fidler point more of the blame at the national champions E.ON and ENI if by chance Eastern European households go cold this winter.  From a business perspective, a supply cut-off would really hurt Gazprom and benefit the state-corporate avarice of Western Europe (who have the ability to import from alternative sources).Either way, things are looking bad for everybody ...

Buried down at the bottom of this blog post attacking Obama's Russia policy (mostly just picking on Joe Biden - it is the National Journal after all), are some interesting quotes from Igor Yurgens - a key advisor to Medvedev and one of those few remaining in the Kremlin who make quite a lot of sense."The dichotomy of attitudes towards Russia in the U.S. administration does not make things easy for us," said Igor Yurgens, an economic policy adviser to Medvedev, at a Nov. 5 lecture in London hosted by the International Institute of Strategic Studies. "It is a problem." (...)

Putting historical wrongs, real and perceived, to rest is especially important because there are issues where Washington's and Moscow's interests converge, none bigger than Afghanistan. (...)

Stabilizing Afghanistan is even more crucial. While

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Reports have emerged following yesterday's meeting between 'comfortable' duo Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Yulia Tymoshenko.  Bloomberg says Putin's announcement that Ukraine would not be penalized for consuming less gas than was contracted was warmly received by Tymoshenko, who pledged that payments would be made on time.  'It would be very good to meet the New Year without calamities,' Putin said, guaranteeing stable supplies (click here for some transit figures).  This exchange was overshadowed by Medvedev's advisor in Moscow, who reportedly complained about 'political blackmail' in light of Tymoshenko's decision to increase transit fees earlier this week. The Guardian points out that TNK-BP's new chief executive, the choice of its oligarch board, is 'inexperienced', but BP insists that it was not 'steamrollered' into accepting him.  Russia's stepped-up pledge for emissions reductions is drawing positive reports.  ...

PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its latest survey of economic crime, and Russia topped the bill, with results 'well above' the global figures.  On that note, Kuban Commercial Bank has had its license withdrawn for scheming to steal $43.5 million from the Pension Fund, and state-owned Rosagroleasing has been accused of 'squandering funds on parties and bonuses'. The OECD has released its forecast for Russia's 2010 economy.  Reports say that state bank VEB is planning to use the profits it made from investing government money to buy up to 3% of the shares offered at RusAl's upcoming IPO, but the company says that information on any possible participation is 'under embargo'.  Polyus Gold has cancelled its share sale after failing to drum up enough investor interest.  A bad week for the Federal Tax Service: first ...

TODAY: Praise for moratorium on death penalty overshadowed by Magnitsky's death - authorities blocking autopsy?; Medvedev dismissed Kremlin aide for abuse of office; NATO concerns about war games dismissed by Rogozin; Orthodox priest murdered, road safety.The Constitutional Court's decision to extend its moratorium on the death penalty (reportedly opposed by the Communist Party) has been welcomed by human rights activists, but one said that the decision was overshadowed by 'unbearable' prison conditions, such as those faced by Sergei Magnitsky before his death.  One of Magnitsky's Firestone Duncan colleagues writes what he calls a 'suicidal' article in today's Moscow Times about the 'oxymoron' of Russian law.  This report says that authorities are refusing to release ...

They were shooting...Yesterday. In the forest. In Vladimir Oblast. A shot thundered practically right over my head. Luckily for me and for the duck flushed from the mirror-like marsh, the hunter missed.

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By the way, they were shooting for certain, not only yesterday and not only in Vladimir Oblast - the hunting season continues in Russia. The period of killing feathered creatures in the Moscow region began back on 25 July and will continue through 30 November. Then, in November, the season will open for beavers, moose, boars...hunting season continues, in essence, year round on the vast spaces of our motherland, which for now is still

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Andrew Meier has penned an epic, wide ranging profile of the second trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in The New York Times Magazine, which captures a sense of the courtroom, the personalities, and the historical context of the affair.  For readers of this blog it is unlikely to have new information, but it represents an important item of reference for those who want to learn about the case. Moscow would soon grow famous for operatic oligarchs and Byzantine intrigues, but Khodorkovsky never got caught in a compromising position -- never snared at an Alpine resort, a Moscow casino or on a Riviera yacht. Girls, power, even the money, seemed to hold no magic. Where others basked in pomp, he was shy and painfully soft-spoken; ...