Ivan Khutorskoy, an anti-fascist activist, has been murdered by gunfire in Moscow today in what some colleagues are calling a possible retaliation.  According to the Reuters coverage, the murder may have been related to the arrests of individuals in connection with the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov:A fellow antifascist campaigner, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the November 16 murder could be out of spite: "Ivan [Khutorskoy] knew Markelov. His murder was either revenge, or a challenge to the authorities following the arrests."Leftist political website ikd.ru wrote: "For the majority of Ivan's friends, it's clear that his murder was carried out by Russian Nazis."With the death of the mistreated Hermitage lawyer, this is a very sad day for Russia.

Details are beginning to emerge about the the two suspects held on suspicion of gunning down fearless human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and Novaya Gazeta intern Anastasia Baburova on January 19th this year.  It appears that one of the pair, both of whom are suspected of being members of an untranationalist organization, has confessed to the crime.  Whilst we are often lamenting the lack of justice in relation to the astounding number of slayings of journalists and activists which remain unsolved (indeed in some cases, unremarked upon by the Kremlin), many rights advocates are wary of jumping to the conclusion that what we are seeing today represents a breakthrough in transparency and justice-seeking. ...

TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for emergencies. Luzhkov lays into Abramovich; new vodka pricing; toy story. The Moscow Times reports that revenge may be the motive behind the shooting of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  Apparently the alleged gunman Nikita Tikhonov may have been a suspect in the stabbing of anti-fascist activist Alexander Ryukhin in 2006, whose mother Markelov was a lawyer for.  The other suspect, Eugenia Khasis, 24, appears to have no prior convictions.  Apparently the killer has confessed - the Other Russia reporting it to be ...

Though Chechnya often gets the street cred, Ingushetia is a pretty rough place as well, and one of the most bloody war zones of the Caucasus.  Before his untimely death, the last article that lawyer Stanislav Markelov contributed to this blog was about the murder of journalist Magomed Yevloyev, and the lack of a legal opposition in Ingushetia.  Following Markelov's murder, throughout the first seven months of 2009 the situation has dramatically worsened.  On June 22nd, Ingush President Yunus-Bek Yevkurov was very nearly murdered in an assassination attempt (photo of Medvedev visiting him in the hospital).  Nameless dead bodies, supposedly of militants or government opponents, are regularly found in various hiding places.  On July 4th, nine Chechen ...

I was just about to write a short blog post on a Reuters story about the kidnapping of Natalia Estemirova, a human rights activist who worked with Memorial in Grozny, when I received the updated news that she had been found dead.  Only hours ago, Tanya Lokshina of Human Rights Watch in Moscow was warning the press on this kidnapping, and making a direct request to the authorities to guarantee her safety:  "There is no shred of doubt that she was targeted due to her professional activity. (...) We know she was abducted and HRW is demanding the Kremlin and Kadyrov that she be returned home safely."Instead, our worst fears were confirmed, as yet another outrageous and vile murder of a human ...

Remember the good 'ole times from back in the summer of 2006?  Russia was about to host the G8 Summit, Anna Politkovskaya and Stanislav Markelov were still alive and working hard, and Mikhail Khodorkovsky had only been in the gulag 2.5 years and undergone only one show trial.  Earlier that spring, the Council on Foreign Relations also published quite a critical paper entitled "Russia's Wrong Direction" which ruffled some feathers, but would later of course turn out to be quite prescient.The report was chaired by former Congressman Jack Kemp, who expressed optimism that the G8 Summit to be held in St. Petersburg that summer could be a useful forum to get things back on track and enlist Russia's help on ...

Earlier today there were reports that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the immediate formation of a government commission empowered to fight back against "false history."  It remains unclear exactly what these powers may include - it could be a reinvention of the Soviet GLAVLIT censorship bureau, or something much more mildly rhetorical - but in terms of linguistics, the high ground has been seized.  So swiftly a topic as vast as history, how it is taught, portrayed in media, or even remembered, has been placed into an unnatural dichotomy.  It is either "true" (what the Kremlin says), or "false" (which is anything the state chooses to disagree with).The formation of this history commission was preceded by Medvedev's comments in a May 7 video blog post coinciding with the Victory Day parades in Moscow: ...

I was quite alarmed this past weekend to read about the murder of the Guatemalan lawyer Roberto Rosenberg, which to me recalled the brutal, mafia-like slaying of Russian lawyer Stanislav Markelov.  As someone who has worked on a politically volatile case in this country for many years, whose team has received repeated death threats and kidnapping attempts, I take it very seriously when anyone who attempts to work within the legal system is deliberately targeted.  However this case suddenly got much bigger, when during his funeral a few days later, the following video was distributed in which Rosenberg himself appears to personally blame the president, the first lady, and several other government officials of plotting his murder to cover up a money laundering and fraud operation at Banrural. ...

TODAY: Victory Day parade and a stern warning from Russia; Putin suggests financial crisis will determine who is to run for President; NATO games prove a spanner in the works of US-Russia restart; 'sorry' not good enough for ex-Standard editorSergei Lavrov's meeting with Hillary Clinton has apparently reaped 'reassuring' results.  Putin has said in an interview with the Japanese media that NATO's military exercises are a sticking point in US-Russia relations and hopes that America will 'hit the brake hard'.  The Prime Minister has made clear that for Russia the issues of nuclear disarmament and Washington's planned missile-defense system are 'inseparably bound up'.  The Guardian finds Russia's policy of polarizing Europe and NATO 'baffling'.  Putin has urged against upping ...

strongGuardian Unlimited /strongbr /br /strongJason Corcoran:/strong emRather than reversing Putin's policies, Medvedev has only hinted at reform. Time will tell if he can step out of the shadows/embr /br /Dmitry Medvedev was destined to be a lame duck leader when he was elected Russia's third president a year ago. His inauguration ushered in a ruling tandem with his mentor and predecessor Vladimir Putin seemingly shifting a gear to become prime minister. Putin, however, has so far done all of the steering while Medvedev has been along for the ride.br /br /Russians have not been duped, judging by the latest opinion poll by the respected Levada Centre, which indicate only 12% believe Medvedev wields real power. Another 34% believe it lies with Putin, while 50% believe it is shared between them.br /br /Buoyed by rising commodity prices, Putin's eight-year reign restored Russia's shattered economy, raised living standards for many and re-established ...