Word: kremlins
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...Paul Quinn-Judge: No. And if public opinion polls are to be believed, it's one of those rare occasions when Russian popular feeling agrees entirely with the rhetoric of the Kremlin. The Russians have never reconciled themselve to losing the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which hope to join NATO), even though they only took them in 1941 under extremely brutal circumstances - although they had been, unhappily, part of the Russian empire for a couple of hundred years. It's a kind of vestigial nostalgia for empire of the type you saw in Britain 30 years...
...hills to escape the Russian military onslaught. Vladimir Putin, in his most famous sound bite ever, promised in gangster language to "rub out" the separatist commanders, even if they were on "the john." But something has gone badly wrong. The guerrillas are back in the cities and towns. The Kremlin has turned against the civilian it put in charge of Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, and replaced the military commander. And Russian officials from the President down now say it could take many years to wipe out the separatist guerrillas...
...situation is no better on the political front. When Akhmad Kadyrov, once a close ally of separatist President Aslan Maskhadov, was appointed head of the Russian-backed administration last year, Kremlin officials predicted he would split the enemy, enticing top commanders to surrender or rally to the Russians. He has made no headway with the separatists, but has alienated the old guard of pro-Russian Chechens. The one area where Kadyrov has shown any zeal is private business, the Kremlin-backed website strana.ru noted in a biting attack on him. Last week, in a further sign of Moscow's unhappiness...
...recent takeover of Moscow's privately-owned NTV television network, the closure of the daily Segodnya and the mass firing at the weekly Itogi were only three battles in the Kremlin's new war on independent news outlets. Less conspicuously, regional power brokers from Pskov in the west to Vladivostok in the east are taking a cue from Moscow and cracking down on local TV, radio and newspapers in what is becoming a nationwide crisis for freedom of information in Russia...
...Does anyone really care? Earlier this month, thousands of Russians protested the imminent crackdown on NTV. But when it finally came, no one took to the streets. Though polls show that 59% of the population support the "old" NTV, Putin's approval ratings remain high. Some expect the Kremlin to disband the Duma and call early elections to ensure the emerging pro-Putin party gains total control of the parliament's lower house...