Local Issues Said To Intrigue Voters More Than Presidential Vote

In an article published on February 13, Dmitry Kolezev, deputy editor of the online news site Znak.com, argues that for many voters out in Russia’s hinterlands -- in his hometown of Yekaterinburg, in particular -- next month’s presidential election is a charade that feeds the impression that the national government in Moscow is out of touch with local issues.

For example, he says Yekaterinburg residents have been more riled up in recent months over the construction of a new Orthodox church, or whether certain streets should be renamed, or the preparations for next year’s World Cup soccer tournament. And yet, he writes:

"Everything is decided in Moscow. The Kremlin practically appoints the governors, and the federal government allocates all the funding. Even small local issues have to be discussed with superiors in Moscow. And this is why the local authorities don’t feel any responsibility to their citizens. Who cares what people are talking about if your fate is in the hands of men in the capital?”

Kovalyov's Volte Face

Just one day after his surprising agreement to become an official representative of Ksenia Sobchak's campaign, Russian human rights legend Sergei Kovalyov abruptly changed his mind, saying he'd committed "a flagrant mistake."

Kovalyov, the 87-year-old Soviet-era dissident and heir to the mantle of Andrei Sakharov, made the announcement in an open letter to Sobchak published on February 14.

Kovalyov expressed respect for Sobchak's idea to run as the candidate "against all" but added that he did not believe the idea would make a difference, in part because Sobchak "isn't thinking primarily about the task" but about her role in it. "Good intentions in civic matters turn to dust as soon as professional devices intended for other purposes -- for example, show business or advertising -- are introduced into them," he wrote.

Kovalyov added that the camera crews that recorded in live-stream format his meeting with Sobchak on February 13 showed up at the elderly activist's home "without warning, without knocking, without ringing the bell." He said that was an example of Sobchak's "professional devices of a politician and a showwoman."

Kovalyov blamed himself for the misunderstanding and asked Sobchak's forgiveness.

Kovalyov was quoted by TASS as saying he would "probably, in keeping with tradition, and without any hope of success," vote for Yabloko candidate Grigory Yavlinsky for president. Kovalyov was a State Duma deputy from Yabloko in 2003 and joined the party in 2006.

Sobchak has not commented on Kovalyov's about-face, and her original announcement of his decision to join her campaign was still on her website early on February 14.

From our newsroom, citing Current Time TV, Dozhd TV, Meduza, and Reuters:

Internet providers in Russia have begun blocking access to opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's website following an order from the country's communications regulator, according to social media posts, news reports, and Navalny himself.

'The Politicization Of Russian Youth'

Svetlana Erpyleva writes in the New Eastern Europe (paywall) about the generation that has grown up in Russia since 2010, arguing it is "no longer just Vladimir Putin's generation, but also the generation of Aleksei Navalny and YouTube."

Erpyleva asks whether the current generation of young Russians is "more radical than the previous one."

Not election news, strictly speaking. But trying to muzzle the organizer of an election boycott would seem to make it so.

Navalny Website Blocked In Russia Over 'Rybkagate' Report

By RFE/RL

Internet service providers in Russia have begun blocking access to opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's website following an order from the country's communications regulator, according to news reports and social-media posts by Navalny and others.

The development came after regulator Roskomnadzor told Navalny -- along with YouTube and Instagram -- that they must delete or block access to a video and photos in an online report about an alleged meeting between billionaire Oleg Deripaska and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko, a longtime former senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny defied the order, which followed a court ruling that publication of the video and photos violated the privacy rights of Derispaska, who filed a lawsuit over the matter after Navalny posted the report on his website on February 8.

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Our Russian Service invited guests on its "Лицом к событию" TV program (in Russian) to speculate about why Sobchak appealed to the Supreme Court for a ruling on whether Putin should be prevented from running for reelection because he has already served three terms, two of them consecutive.

Brian Whitmore's Morning Vertical today on non-candidate Navalny looking like the only one "actually behaving like a candidate":

It appears that Aleksei Navalny has really touched a nerve with the video he released last week targeting Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Prikhodko and Kremlin-connected oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

According to reports this morning, Internet providers in Russia have begun blocking access to opposition leader and anticorruption crusader Aleksei Navalny's website following an order from Roskomnadzor, the country's communications regulator.

Russian authorities are also threatening to block YouTube and Instagram for hosting the video.

It's just the latest example of how spooked the Kremlin is by Navalny. (In fact, some Moscow residents say the only way they can get officials to clear the snow in the Russian capital is to write Navalny's name on it.)

He's been barred from the ballot in Russia's so-called presidential election.

But even though he is a noncandidate officially, he is the only person who is actually behaving like a candidate.

Photo Contest To Boost Turnout

Is there no end to the schemes being dreamed up to maximize turnout in the March 18 presidential election?

Many analysts have said the Kremlin fears low turnout could further undermine the appearance of legitimacy.

Now, a local Internet newspaper in Novgorod is sponsoring a photo competition encouraging people to submit selfies from polling stations under the hashtag #яживой (#ImAlive).

One Twitter comedian posted: "Photograph yourself at the polling station and boast that after 17 years of Putin's rule, you are still alive."

Expat Chichvarkin: Voters Are 'Accomplices' To 'Pseudo-Election'

Current Time TV talked to one of the better-known Russian millionaires in London about the election.

Yevgeny Chichvarkin founded Russia's largest mobile-phone retailer, Euroset, before leaving Russia following a number of seemingly dubious interventions by authorities targeting his business. He is an open opposition, and indeed Navalny, supporter.

On Navalny:

"The only electable candidate who is independent of the Kremlin."

On "dignity":

"People worked for the bandit state of the Soviet Union; people then worked for the irresponsible Russian state; now people are working for the Russian gangster state under Putin."

And on the Russian election and election day:

"We'll have a big gathering in front of the [Russian] embassy [in London]. We'll throw rotten eggs. We've already put the eggs near the stove; they'll be rotten by now. Eggs, tomatoes. We'll throw rotten tomatoes and eggs, and heap shame on all those who come to vote in these pseudo-elections, because they are all accomplices."

Here's the video, in Russian:

The latest from Power Vertical's Brian Whitmore.

Putinism With Human Faces

One opposition candidate for the Russian presidency spent last week campaigning -- in the United States -- with a message that often sounded suspiciously like the Kremlin's.

Another traveled to the United Kingdom to persuade exiled businessmen to return to Russia with their assets, a longtime goal of Vladimir Putin's.

And yet another hinted about being open to taking a job as a Kremlin adviser after the election.

With opponents like these, who needs allies?

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