December 16:
Another journalist has been murdered in Russia. This time, the victim was the founder of a newspaper that investigated government corruption. Reuters reports that Gadzhimmat Kamalov, founder of the newspaperChernovik, was killed by an unknown assailant in the North Caucasus in what one international media watchdog has called “a lethal blow to press freedom” in Russia. The OSCE has similarly dubbed the murder "alarming," and urged Russian officials to “ensure the safety of all journalists working in the region.” Since 1992, at least 32 journalists have been murdered in Russia. Most of the cases remain unsolved.
December 17:
Vladimir Putin’s former prime minister believes that Putin, the current premier, would lose an “honest” presidential election. In an interview with London's Telegraph newspaper, Mikhail Kasyanov, who served as Russian Prime Minister from 2000 until he was fired in 2004, insisted that if he or one of his colleagues from the anti-Kremlin "Parnas" party entered the elections, they would win in the second round. “Putin has no doubt of that too,” Kasyanov added, “which is why he is afraid of us.” However, Kasyanov made clear that no members of "Parnas" will actually take part in the election because, he claims, the Kremlin would likely block their candidacy on “false pretext.” “We want to take part and we are ready to take part but we cannot,” he concluded, and suggested that his party will instead throw its support behind the liberal "Yabloko" party.
In his first commentary on Russia’s ongoing protests, President Dmitry Medvedev has conceded that the current government has “exhausted itself.” While Prime Minister Putin was highly critical of the protestors, and even accused the United States of being the catalyst for Russia's domestic unrest, Medvedev has taken a more introspective stance. “We are obviously entering a new stage in the development of our political system,” theNew York Times reports him as saying, “and we should not close our eyes to that... [I]t has already begun... [and that] it is a manifestation of human dissatisfaction.” Medvedev, however, insisted that governmental reforms would not be adopted under pressure, even as he warned party officials that delegitimization of the country's current political system could lead to itcollapse.
December 18:
The level of protest has decreased in the second week since Russia’s disputed parliamentary elections. About 4,000 people gathered in Moscow this week, reports the Huffington Post, but the group was mostly Communist Party supporters, unlike the diverse gathering seen a week before, when an estimated 50,000 people protested in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square. Another 4,000 people gathered in St. Petersburg to demand a recount of votes, as well as the current government’s resignation.
December 19:
In his government's latest attempt at damage control following the country's controversial elections, Prime Minister Putin has announced that webcams would be put into place in Russia’s polling stations to guard against future electoral fraud. According to Forbes, Putin pledged that $470 million will be spent to “keep an eye on voting booths” during the upcoming presidential election, slated to take place on March 4th.
December 20:
Russian officials have continued their criticism of NATO’s recent intervention in Libya. In the latest development,London's Telegraph reports Russia’s UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, has announced his intention to appeal to the UN Security Council to investigate civilian deaths resulting from NATO strikes. “We hope that NATO is going to revisit this entire problem,” the envoy said. “Unfortunately, NATO adopted a pure propaganda stand claiming zero civilian casualties in Libya which was completely implausible first of all and secondly not true.” NATO leaders maintained that they do not have figures for civilian casualties.
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