The basic story is pretty straightforward, but so odd that there must be something going on below the surface that I just am not quite getting. If anyone could explain it to me, I’d be really grateful!

From what I can gather Shevchenko, who lives in an apartment on the floor below Patriarch Kirill, was having some kind of construction work done. As a result, some kind of undetermined substance (dust, sand, or harmful nanoparticles, depending on who you believe) was carried up and coated many of the surfaces in Patriarch Kirill’s apartment. Lidiya Leonova, who lives in the apartment, and is described in the media as it’s “keeper”, “discovered that all of the property, including the library, was covered in a thick layer of dust” and took it upon herself to sue Shevchenko for the damage caused to Patriarch Kirill’s apartment, including to some very valuable religious texts.

The case went to court and ultimately, after being barred from leaving the country by the court to treat his cancer abroad, the judgement went against Shevchenko and, again according to the media, he was forced to sell an apartment that he had bequeathed to his daughter in order to meet the bill.

Most of the reports in the English language media I’m reading seem to being fairly critical of Patriarch Kirill. The Moscow Times is laughing at the claims that the dust was harmful, pointing out that it was just sand and it would have been far more efficient to just hire a maid to vacuum it up. RFE/RL are taking a slightly different tack in also observing that the Partiarch has a very nice (and presumably very expensive) Swiss watch that, in order to substantiate his claim that he never wears it, has to be airbrushed out of official photos whenever the sleeves of his robe ride up and the world catches a glimpse of it.

Others, though, seem more supportive of the Patriarch. Pravda.ru says that any damages awarded will be donated to charity (which makes you wonder whether it is actually very expensive to clean up the damage) and that the Patriarch has reportedly pronounced that it would be “incorrect” to forgive Mr Shevchenko for his crime. RT points to a sustained anti-Church information campaign, of which this and the Pussy Riot demonstration are just examples.

I’m just so confused. Does anyone know what’s really going on here? If so, please could you explain it to me?

Picture courtesy of the Russian President’s website

The strange case of the Patriarch, some sand, and 20 million rouble lawsuit is a post from: Siberian Light

The result itself came as no surprise but the Bears would have been disappointed with the manner and margin of the loss in Tblisi and to compound their frustration, some wayward penalty kicking from Anton Ryabov denied them the chance to get points on the board.

Georgia 46:0 Russia

Russia�s cause wasn�t helped by their inability to call upon Aviva Premiership players and as a result they started with a weakened team which was further depleted by the loss of Simplikevich and Ostroushko. With Korshunov, Ostrikov and Artemyev already ruled out, it looked like a case of playing for pride and damage limitation.

While not at full strength, Georgia were helped by a blank weekend in Top 14 Rugby and as such, the imbalance in the two sides was evident from the outset. However, that imbalance didn�t translate into points until mid-way through the first half.

After an early penalty miss of his own, Kvirikashvili took Georgia into a three point lead but two missed kicks from Ryabov squandered Russia�s best chance to sneak an advantage. As it was, Georgia�s greater ability finally overcame the visitors in the 25^th minute when Gorgodze crossed over for a converted try.

A further seven points were added thanks to Chkhaidze�s try and Kvirikashvili�s boot to take the home side into a clear lead at the break.

Half time Georgia 17:0 Russia

The second half was, to use an old sporting clich�, one way traffic and after a 43^rd minute penalty extended the Georgian lead, Machkhaneli crossed the try line shortly afterwards and Kvirikashvili added the points to make it 27:0.

The Russian defence struggled on but their line was breached on three further occasions by Datunashvili, Nemsadze and Machkhaneli again. With two successful additions from the boot, Georgia romped to a deserved victory by a comfortable margin.

Full time Georgia 46:0 Russia

The result leaves Georgia at the head of group 1a and a victory with a bonus point over the Ukraine will see them secure the title once again. It will be a fitting and happy end to what has been a mixed campaign at times.

For Russia however, the ENC ends in disappointment and for fans of the Bears, there is a deflated feeling after a good showing at the 2011 World Cup. The major problem seems to be an inability for the coach to call on his best players and if that situation continues, how can Russia hope to improve as a rugby playing nation?

Georgia cruise past abject Russia is a post from: Siberian Light

Russia 38:19 Ukraine

Overall, the Bears will be pleased with the win in Sochi but Kingsley Jones may be just a little alarmed with the ease in which their opponents accumulated points at times.

After missing the last outing through illness, the influential Denis Simplekevich returned to take his place on the wing and even in the absence of Aviva Premiership players, this looked a strong Russian unit under the captaincy of Denis Antonov.

However, it was the Ukraine who took a shock lead early on with an unconverted try by Kosariev on 17 minutes but that only served to wake a rather sleepy set of bears who overtook the visitors just ten minutes later with a converted try by the skipper Antonov.

This heralded a free scoring period leading into half time which Russia started with converted tries from Ostrokov, Babaev and Simplikevich. However, a further reply from the visitors narrowed the score going into the break.

Half time Russia 28:12 Ukraine

Russia were kept further in check during the second half in tricky, boggy conditions that made it difficult for their backs to get involved in the game. The match was also lucky to survive the weather as snow threatened for a time but the heavy conditions definitely worked against the home team.

In the second period, the home side edged the points by a narrow margin of 10 to 7 with Russia’s try coming courtesy of replacement Yevgeniy Titov. The collective boots of Ryabov and Kushnarev finally helped secure a winning score line that in no way flattered the Ukraine.

Final Score Russia 38:19

The result wasn’t the best preparation for Russia’s trip to Georgia this weekend but above all, both sides will be hoping that the weather prevails and that the game actually takes place.

The win did at least extend the gap between Russia and the Ukraine in group 1a but with Portugal beating Spain, the Bears remain in fifth place for now.

Romania 13:19 Georgia

Georgia fielded a strong starting XV as they took advantage of Spain’s defeat in Portugal to move to the top of division 1A. With weather adding to the combination of two physical sides, a dour game was in prospect and so it ultimately proved.

Early pressure told for the home side as Daniel Carpo crossed the line to give Romania a 5-0 lead before the ten minute mark. A conversion by Vlaicu and a penalty from Calafeteanu doubled their points tally but Georgia kept in touch with two penalties of their own from Merab Kvirikashvili. The physical nature of the game was evident throughout the half and resulted in one yellow card apiece.

Half Time Romania 10:6 Georgia

In the second half Romania forged further ahead with an early penalty but the turning point came on 48 minutes when Davit Kacharava crossed the line for the second and most crucial try of the match. The conversion brought the scores level and from there it resorted to a kicking contest.

Thankfully for the travelling Georgia support, the boot of Kvirikashvili stayed firm and two further penalties secured the narrow win.

Georgia will now be full of confidence as they prepare to face Russia next weekend and with the Bears patchy form, the Georgians will be clear favourites.

The win in Romania saw them open up a four point gap at the top and with the way the fixtures are falling, another ENC Championship looks to be heading to Georgia.

Russia and Georgia both win in Rugby ENC is a post from: Siberian Light

9,100 attended, according to RIA Novosti's estimate

This weekend’s rally was smaller than many of the protests seen in Moscow recently. Rally organizers put attendance at around 25,000, but police estimates said the crowd was closer to 10,000 in size. RIA Novosti, who use special software to estimate crowd sizes, put the size at 9,100 with a margin of error of 15%, which indicates that the police estimate is the more accurate.

Although a few arrests were made – including Left Front leader Sergei Uldatsov – they were not of the scale seen at the previous weekend’s rally, where more than 500 were arrested.

A number of prominent opposition movement leaders addressed the rally, including Vladimir Ryzhkov, Garry Kasparov and Sergei Uldatsov. Notably, though, senior members of Russian opposition parties and the four defeated opposition candidates stayed away.

What next for Russia’s opposition movement?

It seems likely to be the last major protest that Moscow will see for a while.

Attendance has been gradually decreasing through the year and, without the focus of an upcoming election, it is unclear what direction Russia’s nebulous and politically disparate opposition movement will take over the coming months.

Some, disheartened by the apparent failure of the current methods of holding legally approved rallies, seem to be arguing for more direct action. Key proponents of this way forward include Sergei Uldatsov, leader of the Left Front movement, who was arrested at Saturday’s rally and at the previous rally. He seems to be supported by Alexei Navalny, who was arrested at last week’s rally and has recently called for a campaign of “civil disobedience”.

Many others, though, feel that opposition in Russia needs to move away from being in simple opposition and towards offering a genuine alternative to the current government, view expressed by Dmitry Gudkov, a member of the A Just Russia party who has been heavily involved in organizing a number of protests. In his blog, he wrote (RUS): “The next demonstration must not be ‘against’ but ‘for’. We need to move away from the format of ‘five minutes of hate’ and announce a plan of action, answer the question ‘What next?’ and demand the authorities conduct reforms.”

10,000 protest in Moscow against Putin is a post from: Siberian Light

There’s a lot to think about after the election, and I thought I’d follow Anatoly Karlin and offer a few of my thoughts on the outcome of the weekend’s excitement.

Cheating

Cheat? Me?

Although some of the claims of fraud in the vote itself are a little over the top (as Anatoly rightly points out, carousel buses aren’t enough to swing an election), it’s horribly depressing to see that the problems we experienced in the Duma election are still there. It is worrying that Putin’s share of the vote is a good 5% higher than the exit polls indicated.

And, of course, Putin still has an absurd 99% support in Chechya, as well as more than 90% support in four other Russian regions (Dagestan, Ingushetia, Karachey-Cherkessia and Tuva). As I’ve mentioned previously, fraud in just a few regions can easily add a couple of percent to Putin’s vote.

Moving on to the media coverage. An ‘establishment’ figure like Putin is always going to have a slight advantage when it comes to getting press and tv coverage. But the sheer volume of coverage that Putin gets in comparison to his rivals doesn’t seem to have changed for the better – I’d wager he got more air time during the campaign than all his rivals combined. The debate on the internet was vibrant and refreshing, but most voters don’t get exposed to it much and so it can not yet be considered a substitute for the power of traditional media.

Putin is genuinely popular

Strip away all of Putin’s advantages, and he would still have won the election comfortably.

Whatever you think of him, Putin is a genuinely popular politician in Russia. Almost every Russian has seen their income and their quality of life improve over the past decade, and it’s not surprising that they credit him for making Russia stronger (although you could argue that one of the reasons they give him this credit is because of Russia’s sycophantic media).

Although Putin will be a bit worried about his reduced share of the vote compared to previous years (Medvedev scored 71% in 2008 and Putin himself scored 72% in 2004) it’s not really all that much of a difference. The real damage to his aura of invincibility won’t come from the election result, it will come from a reinvigorated opposition.

Weak, but strengthening opposition

One of the main reasons that Putin has had such an easy ride over the past decade is that there has been no opposition to speak of. And this year’s election was no different – at least, when it came to the candidates. When the best candidate the opposition can muster is Gennady Zyuganov who himself managed to poll almost as many votes as the 3rd, 4th and 5th placed finishers combined, targeting an election victory involves little more than aiming at fish in a barrel.

There were some really encouraging signs, though, and the street protests that we saw demonstrated (sorry, poor pun) that there are people out there who strongly want an alternative. They made the current grey crop of opposition leaders sit up and change their strategy slightly, and they inspired someone new (Prokhorov) to get involved in politics.

I expect the protests to die off pretty quickly after the election, but I think in 6 years time they will have proved tremendously valuable in kickstarting a genuinely engaging opposition movement in Russia. I have no idea what that opposition will look like – will it be co-opted by the current opposition or will a new grouping emerge? But I’m fascinated to see how it develops.

Thoughts on Putin’s Win is a post from: Siberian Light

Georgia however rebounded from their own setback against Spain last time out with a more emphatic victory over the Portuguese.

Russia 0-25 Romania Before the game, Russian fans were in confident mood and were fully expecting a victory to Romania to emphasise just how far the country had come since the 2011 World Cup. Even neutral observers were pointing to a close game and one in which Russia�s backs should have threatened their opponents more than they ultimately did.

Russia suffered a blow with the late withdrawal of key player Denis Simplikevich who was taken ill and from then on, things just got worse for Jones� side. After seven minutes they were behind to an un-converted �Daniel Carpo try and with the Russian scrum under repeated pressure, a penalty try was conceded to allow the visitors to go in 12-0 up at the break.

The second half led to a similar scenario as Adrian Apostol and Cristian Petre added tries. With Vlaicu squandering both conversion kicks it was left to Valentin Calafeteanu to seal the win with a late penalty.

It�s true to say that this was a weakened Russian, side missing several of its key players but nevertheless a reverse with no points on the board was a major disappointment.

Georgia 32-7 Portugal

Georgia reacted to their defeat against Spain by recalling Gorgodze and Kakovin to the squad and dropping the ineffective pairing of Abuseridze and Gigauri. The game started brightly and in stark contrast to Georgia�s dour and uninspiring rugby of late, this was a flowing, open game with good attacking moves from the outset.

It was a surprise therefore that it took so long for the first points to register on the board. Finally, after having an earlier try disallowed, Georgia took the lead on 37 minutes through Sharikadze with Kvirikashvili adding the conversion.

It stayed at 7-0 going into the break but in the second half, Georgia began to dominate and stretch their lead. Their flowing play finally wore down a gritty Portuguese back row and tries from Shkinin, Belkania and Kubriashvili, coupled with points from the boot of Kvirikashvili, secured a bonus point win.

Overall, it was another mixed weekend for both sides but the next set of fixtures offer both Russia and Georgia the best possible chance of sealing victories. Russia host the Ukrainians while Georgia travel to Romania, buoyed by their emphatic win over an emerging Portugal XV.

Russia capitulate while Georgia rally in latest European Nations Cup games is a post from: Siberian Light

Dmitry Medvedev giving his final State of the Nation address

However, his initiative comes amid signs that his ambitious proposals for electoral reform may be coming up against sustained opposition within the Duma.

225 new electoral districts

The draft law is the latest of a series of electoral reforms first proposed in his State of the Nation address last December.

It proposes taking the 450 Duma seats and dividing them into two groups. 225 would continue to be elected on the basis of proportional representation, as currently happens for the full Duma. The other 225 would be allocated to geographical electoral districts.

Introducing his proposal last year, Medvedev told Duma representatives that it would allow “each territory to have their own direct representative in the parliament” and would “enhance communication between deputies and the electorate”.

Two of the other reforms he proposed in his State of the Nation address have already been submitted and are being considered by the Duma. One would allow for the direct election of state governors. The other would make it much easier to register political parties, partly by dramatically cutting the the number of signatures that new parties must submit to the Central Election Commission.

Growing opposition

Medvedev’s reforms were welcomed by many observers as a step towards increasing democratic participation within Russia and, in the case of changes to rules about electing state governors, removing the ability of the Kremlin to hand-pick candidates.

However, in an indication of Medvedev’s lame duck status, they seem to be meeting increasing opposition from within the State Duma and there is some doubt about just how closely the final laws will resemble Medvedev’s proposals.

When Medvedev first proposed changing the way that governors were elected, we noted that Medvedev had taken a proposal initially made by Vladimir Putin and subtly changed it to remove the President’s right to veto candidates. However, it appears that Putin may not have been happy with this meddling, and already United Russia have supported an amendment that puts the veto clause straight back into the law.

Extraordinary meeting

An extraordinary meeting of the State Duma has been called for 28 February 2012 to discuss the proposals.

It’s extraordinary in the sense that as well as the 450 Duma members, representatives of political parties who didn’t win any Duma seats will be invited to take part, as well as delegates from political groupings such as the People’s Freedom Party that have been barred from registering as political parties in Russia.

Of course, they won’t be able to participate in any vote on the draft laws – that remains the perogative of the elected Duma representatives – but it does mark an interesting departure from the norm of Russian politics.

Medvedev submits draft electoral law amid growing opposition is a post from: Siberian Light

Moscow Protests from earlier this year

What are the political parties doing?

The Communists have scored a bit of a coup by gaining permission to hold their rally at the prized Manezh Square in the centre of Moscow. Pro-Putin supporters had also requested permission to rally there, and eyebrows were raised when the Moscow authorities approved the pro-Communist rally ahead of the pro-Putin rally. The Communists’ cause was probably helped by only asking for permission for 5,000 people, whereas the pro-Putin organisers asked for permission for 200,000 people to cram into the centre of Moscow.

The pro-Putin rally is split into two parts. First, permission has been given for 40,000 people to march to the Luzhniki Sports Complex. Secondly, permission has also been granted for a 100,000 strong static rally at the sports complex itself.

A Just Russia and the Liberal Democrats have also applied to hold rallies in central Moscow on 23 February and, although not yet formally approved, it seems unlikely that they will be blocked. An organisation called Essence of Time has also applied for a permit to hold a 15,000 strong rally, which is expected to be pro-Government in nature.

And the independents?

For Fair Elections don’t seem to be planning a formal rally as such. Instead, they have a couple of interesting plans. The first, planned for 19 February, is a car-based protest which will involve people putting white ribbons on their cars and driving around their city, presumably in a pre-defined route.

The second is the intriguing idea of creating a human chain around the Kremlin on Sunday 26 February. The organisers think that this will need more than 30,000 people and, surprisingly, Moscow officials are indicating that this won’t require official permission.

Mikhail Prokhorov, the only independent rally in the Presidential race doesn’t seem to have a formal rally planned, as far as I can see.

Moscow gearing up for more rallies is a post from: Siberian Light

Election winner Berdymukhamedov

The result is a dramatic improvement on Berdimuhamedov’s performance in the 2007 Presidential election, where he only scored 89% of the popular vote, and can probably be attributed to the fact that all seven of his opponents praised his performance as President over the past five years.

Berdimuhamedov still has a way to go, though, if he wants to match the 99.5% of the vote that his predecessor, Saparmurat Niyazov. Of course, the late great Turkmenbashi took the added precaution of ensuring that he was the only candidate.

Turkmen election makes my “heart rejoice” says Russian CIS boss

Observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States duly reported back to give the election a clean bill of health with Sergei Lebedev, the CIS Executive Secretary telling reporters that his “heart rejoiced” at the way the election had been conducted.

None of the other organisations that traditionally observe elections bothered to send anyone, so convinced were they that the election would be a farce. According to the OSCE, “conditions were not suitable for a vote-monitoring mission”.

No official reaction from the Russian Government yet, but expect it to be warm and congratulatory.

Better, but not by much

Although it’s easy to be cynical about the elections in Turkmenistan, which are very clearly fixed, it is worth noting that there have been some improvements in the country since the death of Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s former President For Life. Having said that, by anyone else’s standards, they’re pretty limited. The BBC’s Rayhan Demytrie writes:

“The president did allow the internet into the country – but access is tightly controlled. Websites such as Facebook and YouTube are banned, and private internet connections can cost up to $6,900 (£4,354) a month. [However...] In internet cafes, visitors have to show their passports and register in a logbook.”

There’s some interesting analysis of this over at Registan.net, where Joshua Foust argues that Turkmenistan seems to have been given a bit of a free pass by the US and EU, especially compared to other countries in the region. Perhaps because Turkmenistan was such a basket-case under Turkmenbashi that any kind of progress was to be welcomed.

Turkmenistan President re-elected with 97% of vote is a post from: Siberian Light

Coach Kingsley Jones was indebted to the kicking qualities of Anton Ryabov and Yuri Kushnarev whose collective boots saw Russia scrape home by a single point in their European Nations Cup Tie on the 11^th of February. Portugal actually outscored their opponents in the tries department by 4 to 3 but by missing a late conversion the home side failed to secure the vital win.

Jones was without three English based players for the game and included only Wasps� Viktor Gresev from his Aviva Premiership contingent and with a weakened side on foreign soil, it was always going to be a tough battle.

By the break, Russia were behind by 20 points to 16 with Gardner and Spachuk crossing the line for the home side and Ricardo adding the points from the boot. For the visitors, Ostroushko touched down with Kushnarev adding the conversion and Ryabov slotting over three penalties.

Jones had promised to try out new players in the competition but he relied heavily on Denis Simplikevich, the find of the World Cup to bring Russia back into the game. Simplikevich filled in at fly half and full back and it was his try that gave his side the edge and with Ryabov now injured, Kushnarev�s boot saw the away team head into a 26-20 lead.

Ostroushko then added his second converted try to extend that advantage but Russia�s already shaky defence was hampered when the visitors went down to 14 men. The Portuguese rallied to come within one point but couldn�t nail the final conversion to snatch the game.

Spain 25-18 Georgia

Like their Russian counterparts, Georgia also went into this game with a weakened side but would have been disappointed to lose by such a wide margin.

In truth, the Georgians were never really in the match and by half time, the home side were leading by 18 points to 8. Georgia�s points came courtesy of a Dmitri Basilaia try and a Kvirikashvili conversion but the defence conceded too many infringements to allow the home side to race into a comfortable lead.

Georgia rallied in the last twenty minutes but by that point they were down by 25 points to 8. Spain had increased their lead early in the second half while Chkaidze was in the sin bin � a measure of the away side�s indiscipline.

Finally, Georgia showed some fluency in their attacking play and on the hour mark, Shkinin crossed over and ten minutes later, Chilachava added a further five points. Both tries went unconverted to leave the final score 25-18 to Spain.

Once again, Georgia�s indiscipline contributed enormously to their failure against a side who they should expect to beat on a regular basis.

Narrow win for Russia while Georgia slump to defeat in European Nations Cup is a post from: Siberian Light