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 ...

An interesting opinion piece today by Vladimir Ryzhkov in the Moscow Times sees one of the last bastions of media freedom - Ren TV - looking like it may have to fight for its independence.  The increasingly popular station, the only one in Russia to offer a critical interpretation of the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam disaster and cover the Dissenter's Marches in Moscow and St Petersburg, may be fettered by management 'restructuring'.Controlled by National Media Group, owned by Putin ally Yury Kovalchukm, Ren will have a new Director General and will find new lodgings alonside state-controlled RIA-Novosti and the tow-the-line RT.  Ryzhkov recollects Gazprom's Media's overhaul of NTV which followed similar lines: could this be another nail in ...

When I'm abroad, I often get asked who of the leaders of the Russian opposition I think stands out in some way. Usually I name Boris Nemtsov, Garry Kasparov, and Vladimir Ryzhkov. In doing so I always reiterate that I am not a political scientist, not a specialist, not an expert, and god knows not some kind of maven on the subject of Russian political reality... My opinion, it is absolutely subjective, as such I'll explain some of my perspectives before getting into this interview, so the reader knows what they are getting.

Если Вы хотите прочитать оригинал данной статьи на русском языке, нажмите сюда.

Personal impressions play a role: I am acquainted with Vladimir

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Vladimir Ryzhkov makes a rather convincing point about President Medvedev's efforts to prevent the "falsification" of history - that the best way to do this would indeed be to fully open up the Soviet archives.  Sure, one could imagine that there would be some unpleasant revelations along with the exonerations - as there would be for almost any government - but fears of exposing the conduct of Russia's secret service forebearers is not sufficient reason to keep the archives under lock and key.  As it currently stands, this secrecy imparts some sort of sense of guilt or shame over what resides in the archives, instead of the confidence of openness and the perspective that the Russian Federation cannot be responsible for the past conduct of the Soviet Union.Most of the documents connected with the 1940 execution of more than 20,000 ...

From Vladimir Ryzhkov's column in the Moscow Times on the new history commission:Now, the Kremlin leaders are reviving the Stalinist cult in order to justify their own violations of human rights. They believe that a "firm hand" is necessary to deal effectively with the Russian character and the country's huge territorial expanse. The power vertical, we are told, is the most effective form of government for Russia, considering its "unique historical and cultural tradition." Moreover, the Kremlin interprets criticism of Stalin's crimes as an attack on its own authoritarianism. This is not surprising considering that today's leaders have made use of many weapons from Stalin's arsenal by creating a police state and the myth that Russia is encircled by enemies, including a fifth column implanted inside the country. ...

TODAY: Russia condemns North Korea 'Hiroshima' size bomb test; Lavrov says election result in Lebanon must be respected; Medvedev believes influence in CIS states should be extended; streamlining the military provokes discontentA spokesman for President Medvedev has said that 'North Korea's underground nuclear test in the region adjacent to the territory of the Russian Federation ... causes deep regret and the most serious concern'.  The detonation was, according to Russian experts, of a bomb roughly the same size as that dropped on Nagasaki or Hiroshima.  Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the international community must recognize the results of Lebanon's upcoming general election, regardless of who wins.  This comment comes hot on the heels of those by US Vice President ...

From the Financial Times article on the parole granted to former Yukos lawyer and political prisoner Svetlana Bakhmina:

But analysts and opposition politicians cautioned that the steps looked like little more than gestures and said they were likely agreed first with Mr Putin, who has retained power as prime minister. "It is too early to speak of a change in policy," said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a former independent MP.

"The release of Ms Bakhmina does not make Medvedev a new Gorbachev," said Lilia Shevtsova, a senior associate at Moscow's Carnegie Centre, adding that the Soviet Union's last leader had already freed the media under glasnost and released political prisoner Andrei Sakharov by the end of his first year in power. "What we have are just gestures are an attempt by the regime to find a softer more flexible form of preserving power."

"The regime is like a chameleon. It sheds its skin or

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