They've Done It Again: Murders Cast Pall Over Post-Soviet Russia
Read this powerful commentary by our own Steve Gutterman on what people mean in Russia when they say, "they killed..."
But it's clear who "they" are: The bad guys. The people who do what Putin often accuses the West, and particularly the United States, of trying its hardest to do: hold Russia back. Contain it. Prevent it from developing into what dozens of the Russians I met before and after the Soviet collapse of 1991 desperately wanted it to become: a normal country.
In different ways, Listyev, Politkovskaya, and Nemtsov each played a part in efforts to achieve that goal. Nemtsov's killing showed it may be more distant than ever.
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But one thing the three killings have had in common was a stunned sense, among many people living and working in Russia, that it was the last straw -- that things could not get any worse.
And each murder has shown that they can.
Honcharenko in Moscow today before his detention, wearing a shirt that says "Heroes never die."
Volodymyr Groysman, the Ukrainian parliamentary chair, says the deputy's detention is a "violation of all international norms."
Strong words from Dmytro Kuleba, of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, on the detention of Honcharenko:
"They [Russian authorities] clearly are better at catching Ukrainians than the murderers of Russians."
Likely the iconic photo of the day.
Some amazing photos from today's demonstration by Evgeny Feldman.
"I've never seen so many Russian flags at a demonstration," writes photographer Ilya Varlamov. Perhaps a direct rebuttal to the Kremlin's talk of a "fifth column" within the Russian opposition.
Photos from a march earlier today in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk.
The lawyer for Nadia Savchenko says he has been asked to defend Honcharenko.
London-based author Ben Judah responds to a tweet from the Russian Ambassador to the UK.