[SunkenCiv]

offsite, with thanks to AdmSmith:

• Anders Aslund on Twitter: "@vasilipoupkine @tylercowen I read the Russian internet very carefully. Good be old Kremlinologist today."

  Major power battle in Kremlin. Putin, Kadyrov, MVD, Sechin vs Ivanov, FSB, Patrushev, Bortnikov, FSO, Naryshkin, Orthodox Church. Serious!

Regime change?

• Internet rumor: Putin gone, Medvedev takes over
• 'Putin Involved in Drug Smuggling Ring', Says Ex-KGB Officer
• Kremlin Planning Major Announcement, Stage Being Constructed in Red Square
• Putin's recent public reappearance is a sham -- he's been out of sight for 8 days now
• Putin, Said to Be 'Perfectly Healthy,' Is Also Nowhere to Be Seen
• The Sick Man Of Moscow
• The very scary reality behind the silly rumors of Putin's death
• Is Putin ill? 'Everything is fine' despite cancelled meetings and old photos
• Can Putin's Absence Indicate A Palace Coup In Moscow?
• Vladimir Putin is not dead, Kremlin insists
• Putin's mysterious absence has Moscow a-buzz with rumors
• 'Where is Putin?' Russians ask, as leader drops off radar
• Russian rumour mill suggests Putin suffering poor health
• A Putin Puzzle
• Is Putin Well? Nixed Trip Stokes Rumors of Stroke

if Russia purges Putin's gangsters, shouldn't we?

• ...Putin now governs mostly through terror and propaganda
• Russia's anti-American fever goes beyond the Soviet era's
• Russia's anti-U.S. sentiment now is even worse than it was in Soviet Union

The Sun Never Sets:

• Britain may broadcast Putin's financial secrets to Russia
• Britain may broadcast Putin's financial secrets to Russian people

even Belarus recoils:

• Lukashenko seeks unbiased cooperation with Latvia and other EU states
• Lukashenko: Belarusian army should properly respond to challenges and threats
• Lukashenka Says Belarus Ready For Dialogue With NATO
• Revealed: Vladimir Putin Plotting To Invade Europe
• Ex-Soviet states bicker as Putin tries to unite them
• Lukashenka Says 'We Can't Be Dicing Up' Europe's Borders Again (Belarus)
• Back in the USSR: Belarusian leader who helped bury Soviet Union says it is making a comeback

from the Good Riddance desk:

• Putin describes secret operation to seize Crimea
• Putin Contradicts Claims on Annexation of Crimea
• Vladimir Putin's 'Time of Troubles' (VERY Educational and Informative)
• Chechen Leader Kadyrov Receives Award From Putin
• Putin just awarded a medal of honor to the chief suspect in most notorious political murders
• Zaur Dadaev, charged in Boris Nemtsov murder, may have been tortured
• Putin's Russia is a Gangster Regime
• Putin's Way

Putin's Boris Nemtsov hit:

• The Kremlin's Nemtsov Murder Narrative Is Hanging By A Thread
• Why Russia's Probe Into the Nemtsov Murder Does Not Stack Up
• Sixth suspect in death of Boris Nemtsov dies in suicide explosion
• Suspect in Russian Politician's Killing Blows Himself Up, Report Says
• Russian authorities arrest 2 in Nemtsov death
• Russian authorities arrest 2 men in the murder of opposition leader Nemtsov
• Crossing the Kremlin: Nemtsov latest in long line of Putin critics to wind up dead
• Boris Nemtsov funeral: Russia restricts foreign mourners
• Nemtsov's shaken girlfriend says she didn't see killer
• Boris Nemtsov murder: Putin now governs mostly through terror and propaganda
• After Boris Nemtsov's Assassination, 'There Are No Longer Any Limits' [Russia]
• Boris Nemtsov Joins a Long List of Murdered Putin Critics
• RUSSIA: 100000 Celovek in Moscow picket in memory of Boris Nemtsov live!
• Boris Nemtsov: Final interview given by Putin critic just hours before his murder -- in full
• RUSSIA: Opposition Leader BORIS NEMTSOV SHOT [VIDEO IN English]
• Putin's 'Hybrid' Great Terror (Nemtsov assassination)
• Profile: Boris Nemtsov
• Boris Nemtsov, leading Putin critic, shot and killed in Moscow
• Obama condemns killing of Russia's Nemtsov
• Boris Nemtsov, Critic of Putin, Is Shot Dead in Moscow
• Putin Opponent Boris Nemtsov Assassinated in Moscow (Photos)
• Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov shot dead in Moscow
• Russian politician Nemtsov shot dead

from the FRchives:

• Russia Boosts Arms, Training for Leftist Latin Militaries
• Walker is Right: Trafficker Firings Affected Soviets

Round, round, get around, he gets around:

• Putin In Italy For Birth of Secret Love Child?
• Missing Putin found in Switzerland for 'birth of love child'
• Kremlin Less Than Impressed as Satirists Run Riot with Rumors of Putin's Whereabouts

[AdmSmith]

We will soon see if Putin is in charge or if it is someone else at the top; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Shoygu or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Ivanov .

If we guess that Sergei will take over it is most likely correct.

This https://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/demokratizatsiya%20archive/08-2_Karasik.PDF 14 year old paper about Putin and Shoigu could have been written recently.