Free Republic

The editor of a leading independent Russian newspaper says he plans this week to publish what purports to be an official Kremlin strategy document outlining Russia's 2014 invasion of Ukraine. Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitri Muratov said the document appears to have been prepared weeks before Ukraine's pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych was driven from office in February 2014, following weeks of anti-government protests in Kyiv. Muratov's disclosure came in an interview with Moscow's Ekho Moskvy radio. He did not reveal how the document was obtained, but said he is confident it is authentic.

The Russian independent radio station Ekho Moskvy has received a formal warning from Roskomnadzor, Russia’s censor. The latter accuses it of ‘extremism’ and claims that the material in its Oct 29 programme “With our own eyes” [Svoyimi glazami] “justifies military or other crimes”. The letter is spread out on two pages, yet gives no indication as to how the said material can be deemed to ‘justify war crimes’. Ekho Moskvy’s chief editor Alexei Venediktov has said that they will be lodging a court appeal against the warning. According to Russian law, two such warnings within the space of a year...

...After NTV fell to the Kremlin, many journalists censored themselves. Regional governors hailed Monday's constitutional overhaul, well aware that their welfare (financial as much as political) depends on Mr. Putin now.... The passive response to Mr. Putin's restoration makes many people pessimistic about Russian civil society.... A rise in capital flight suggests anxiety about the direction of Kremlin policy. Exchange kiosks reported heavy buying of dollars, the safe currency, after Mr. Putin's speech Monday. Repealing the Yeltsin-era decentralization, which managed to keep Russia unified after 1991, will certainly invite problems in months to come from frustrated regions far from Moscow...