Washington, D.C., USA
"Another murder in Moscow
Another Russian, who fought for human rights and the rule of law, was murdered in Putin's Moscow. Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer who defended Chechens cruelly tortured by Russian soldiers... was killed with a shot to the head from a silenced pistol... The crime, committed in broad daylight in the centre of Moscow, a few hundred metres from the Kremlin, is another testimony to the fact that murders remain one of the dominant features of political life in Putin's era. It's quite possible that Putin and his security services are not linked to ... this murder. It is, however, obvious that Russians are living in a political environment where anyone criticizing Putin for human rights violations can be killed with impunity. Western leaders did nothing to bring Putin and the Russian Government to account. As a result of this inaction, such murders remain a part of Russian politics."
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Munich, Germany
"Hollow Empire
Russia is a great power and it is now as powerful as ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union; but what does it have to offer to other people? For Russians, Putin represents an era of relative prosperity, whereas for Europeans his image is rather terrifying. The idea of Communism promised a bright future, but it collapsed, drowned in blood. After that, Russia had been in an ideological vacuum for some time. Recently, however, it has been able to generate a strong magnetism, though with great difficulty and mostly thanks to oil revenues. Alas, this is in the past now. Migrant workers are leaving the abandoned construction projects, and Russians are sadly watching how the rouble is losing value. Putinism is a nationalist idea; or maybe it is just a by-product of high oil prices and state dirigisme.
The control over hundreds of pipeline kilometres cannot become a substitute for a genuine interest from other countries. Putinism has passed its zenith. Now, a new political culture would be the best choice, while coercion and violence - the worst.
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London, Great Britain
"New Russian elite got another chunk of London
This could have only happened in 21st century London. A former KGB agent, now a wealthy businessman, is buying a respected newspaper from Britain's last media magnate. Two decades ago, a deal between Alexander Lebedev and the 4th Viscount Rothermere on purchasing the Evening Standard, a London newspaper published for 181 years, would have been unthinkable... Present-day London is a different story. Here, the wealth of the New Russians is in regular competition with the wealth of aristocrats...
Mr Lebedev was a lieutenant-colonel in Russia's intelligence service, the same rank that Putin has. He was the third secretary at the Soviet Embassy in London in the late 1980s. It appears that most of his time was devoted to analyzing newspapers, including the Evening Standard. Jonathan Rutherford Best, a close friend of the Russian businessman, said that Mr Lebedev is "in love with British media, and especially with this newspaper."
By Nikolai Zubov