Hundreds of Thousands Demonstrate in Frosty Moscow

Protests were held on Saturday in Moscow to demand fair elections. Estimates of the number of protesters ranged from 36,000 (according to police officials) to 120,000 (according to the rally organizers). The protesters hit the streets in minus 20 degrees Celsius (just under 0 degrees Fahrenheit) to voice their concerns over fair and transparent presidential elections, which are slated to occur on March 4. At the same time, a rally in support of Putin took place on Poklonnaya Gora. Estimates of the number of participants, according to different reports, varied from 38,000 to 138,000. Numerous media and blog reports said that many of the pro-Putin rally participants were state employees, who were forced to attend, though authorities denied these allegations. Several smaller demonstrations took place in other places in Moscow, bringing the total number of demonstrators to more than 200,000.

http://en.rian.ru/video/20120204/171146489.html
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120204/171119597.html
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1866656
http://youtu.be/HtRF72Ins3E (video)

Moscow: Ashton Interferes in Russia’s Home Affairs

The Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said that the call by the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Russia to review its decision to bar liberal opposition leader Grigory Yavlinsky from taking part in the upcoming presidential elections is an interference into Russia’s home affairs. Yavlinsky, leader of the liberal Yabloko party and two-time presidential candidate, was disqualified last week after officials judged that 25.6 percent of the 2 million signatures submitted as part of his application were invalid or fake. “I call on the responsible authorities to review as a matter of urgency the decision not to register Grigory Yavlinsky,” Ashton said during the European Parliament’s debates on Russia in Brussels. “The EU leadership would better pay attention to their home problems, rather than lecturing others on democracy,” Lukashevich commented.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120202/171100341.html
http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/newsline/EC650834717156B944257998005B04F5 (statement)

Voice of America Publishes Fake Interview with Navalny

Whistleblower lawyer, blogger and opposition leader Alexei Navalny has dismissed an interview with him posted on the Voice of America web site as a fake. “Voice of America has gone completely nuts. [They] have published a huge fake 'Interview with Navalny',” the blogger said on his Twitter account. The interview, entitled “If you want to do something well, do it yourself,” features details from Navalny’s childhood, his participation in a nationalist march and his opinion of opposition activists. In response, VOA apologized. “To obtain that material we used the channels that we, at that moment, believed to be reliable,” explained the VOA Russian service editorial board in a statement. Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120201/171070888.html
http://www.voanews.com/russian/news/Navalny-interview-2012-01-31-138443484.html

Putin Orders Share Buyback

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin instructed the country's No.2 bank, VTB, to compensate small investors who lost money in its stock market flotation. Shares in VTB, which is 75.5 percent government owned, are trading at around 7 kopecks, just over half the price of 13.6 kopecks at which they were floated in 2007 when over 100,000 small investors bought the stock during its so-called “people’s IPO.” Answering a question of an unhappy foreign investor at an investor conference, Putin offered to buy back VTB's shares at the original issue price. "I can instruct the bank's management to work out a plan to buy back these shares so that you do not suffer any losses," Putin said. Calling on a surprised Andrei Kostin, the head of VTB who happened to be sitting in the audience, the prime minister announced that they would meet to discuss a share buy-back on Monday. The buyback should cost the bank about $500 mln.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/russia-putin-vtb-idUSL5E8D24SC20120202
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5583c0c6-4dbf-11e1-a66e-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1lIYqs4hw

Medvedev’s Rights Councils Suggests Pardoning Khodorkovsky

A working group of the Presidential Council for Human Rights proposed pardoning 30 defendants and convicts, including former YUKOS managers Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev. The list of those to be pardoned includes five scholars, twelve entrepreneurs (convicted in relation to their business activities), five alleged terrorists, and eight persons convicted (in the opinion of the working group) in relation to their civil protest activity. Working group member Tamara Morshchakova, formerly a Constitutional court Judge, opined that no formal petition of a convict (admitting guilt) is needed for the President to issue a pardon decree. Earlier, President Dmitry Medvedev stated that such a petition is necessary.

http://rapsinews.ru/incident_news/20120202/259916236.html

Ukraine’s Interior Ministry Admits Copyright Infringement

The Ukrainian Ministry of Interior’s spokesman Vlolodymyr Polishchuk confessed that the computer software used by the Ministry is largely pirated. “Approximately 47% of the software in the Ministry is not properly licensed. However, the Ministry has informed Microsoft. Now the company is carrying on negotiations with the state bodies on how to legalize the software,” Polishchuk stated. The official added that the Ministry has not purchased computers with pre-installed pirated software since 2006.

http://www.pravda.com.ua/rus/news/2012/02/1/6945809/

Ukraine Shuts Down Largest File Sharing Website

Ukrainian police shut down the country's most popular file sharing website, Ex.ua, accusing its owners of illegally distributing copyright-protected software, music and videos. The move was a result of complaints by software companies such as Microsoft and Adobe, police said. "During a search at the website (owners') office and data centers, police confiscated numerous computers... including 200 servers containing about 6,000 terabytes of information in total," the Interior Ministry said in a statement. "Police have found out that the website was run by a citizen of Latvia." Under Ukrainian laws, the website's owners could face up to five years in prison if found guilty, it said. Ex.ua's users numbered in the millions, according to police.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/31/us-ukraine-website-idUSTRE80U1IR20120131

Russian FM Avoids Clinton's Calls on Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on January 31 that he was amazed by the hullabaloo over his failure to discuss a UN Syria resolution with US State Secretary Hillary Clinton. Clinton tried to reach Lavrov by telephone for two days, but he was "apparently unavailable" while on a visit to Australia, according to US Department of State press briefings of January 30 and 31. Clinton herself blamed the spotty connection in Australia for her failure to get in touch with Lavrov. However, Lavrov explained he was busy negotiating with his Australian partners, adding that he and Clinton would talk later.

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120131/171050256.html
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/290800/20120201/clinton-denies-snub-russian-fm-australia.htm
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2012/01/182732.htm (transcript)
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2012/01/182830.htm (transcript)

Freedom of Assembly Demonstration Dispersed in Moscow

On January 31, Moscow opposition activists held their traditional demonstration on the Triumfalnaya Square in support of Article 31 of the Russian Constitution (freedom of assembly). As usual, the demonstration was banned by the authorities and dispersed by the police special forces. Some 50 activists were arrested.

http://lenta.ru/news/2012/01/31/fifty/
http://youtu.be/58L-4BG1itg (video)