Combatting child sexual abuse in Russia involves some unexpected players – on the
one hand, vigilantes who hunt down online child abusers, and on the other, the
Kremlin, anxious to discredit the opposition. Mikhail Loginov reports.
A disastrous fire in the 18th
century Lyadiny ensemble has resulted in the destruction of one of the two
churches and the belltower. Wooden churches are very vulnerable, but all too
often the situation is compounded by neglect and indifference, says Matilda Moreton
With his regime
running out of steam, Vladimir Putin is resorting to the rhetoric of the past
and traditional values. Marie Mendras
sees little future in it. 
Repressive laws, socialist icons, and the promotion of Eurasian identity amount to a regression to the Soviet past, says Daniil Kotsyubinsky. 
With
Aleksei Navalny on trial and other opposition leaders under threat, Vladimir
Putin is relying more on the stick than the carrot to shore up his regime.
Kirill Rogov points out the risks of this policy. 
There are few new ideas driving the Putin
regime forward. If the Kremlin has an ideology, it is a deeply conservative and miltaristic one, with no goals, vision or future.
However much the regime might try to plot a new political trajectory, its only success is in
intensifying a feeling of drift and improvisation. Unforced errors are
typical for the end of authoritarian regimes, says Daniel Treisman, so the
Kremlin should be extremely careful.
After being sidelined since December 2011, the Kremlin's once-mighty propagandist Vladislav Surkov was today 
How
should liberal Russians interact with an increasingly illiberal regime?
Writer and Putin critic Grigory Chkhartishvili (a.k.a Boris Akunin) delivered a simple message at yesterday's opposition rally in Moscow. 
Russian ballet dancers used to defect to the West, but two years ago Xander Parish left the Royal Ballet for St Petersburg’s Mariinsky Ballet. Extracts from his diary, from his first Giselle in St Petersburg to Scheherezade in Abu Dhabi, give a vivid illustration of the life of a dancer
Gogol's government inspector was a figure of fun. Russia's new government inspectors are anything but funny.
Vladimir
Putin has long paid lip service to the notion that his government should
address the problem of corruption. Is his new campaign for real, or will it be
more of a shootout between corrupt officials and businessmen with more or less
support from on high? This week's editor
Europe from the bottom up
European debate
Democratic Wealth
Nuclear non-proliferation
Women and the Arab Spring
oDRussia at journalismfestival .com
Mali - the plot thickens
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Remote control war
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Dan Hancox Revel, Riot and Rebellion
Martin Rose Bliss Was It in that Dawn to Be Next Door
Vron Ware Up in Arms
Jim Gabour Sunday Comics
James Warner Standing Perpendicular, as books do
Markha Valenta Inter Alia: religion, politics, culture
Paul Rogers on Global security
Mary Kaldor on Human security
