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Russia 2018: Kremlin Countdown

Updated

A tip sheet on Russia's March 18 presidential election delivering RFE/RL and Current Time TV news, videos, and analysis along with links to what our Russia team is watching. Compiled by RFE/RL correspondents and editors.

Russian Police Try To Pull The Plug, But Navalny's YouTube Protest Rolls On

By Tom Balmforth

Our Moscow correspondent at the protest.

At Least 350 Detained At Election Boycott Rallies In Russia

By Tom Balmforth

MOSCOW -- At least 350 people, including opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, were detained across Russia as they rallied in support of an election boycott on January 28.

The anticorruption crusader was dragged by police into a bus shortly after joining a rally of more than 1,000 people on Moscow's central thoroughfare on January 28, according to a live video feed from the scene.

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Sobchak Campaign Chief's Car Torched In 'Arson' Attack

Hours after the head of Ksenia Sobchak's campaign had been in Grozny.

From our news desk:

Shirobokov used his car to travel to Moscow with signatures of local supporters of Sobchak as part of the procedure necessary to officially register her as a candidate in the March 18 election.

The campaigners said the fire was a planned arson attack and asked local police to investigate.

Hours before the car fire in Pskov, Sobchak was in the capital of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya, where she held a protest at a memorial to slain journalists and held a sign reading, "Freedom for Oyub Titiyev!"

50 Ways To Love Your Putin: Russian TV Fawns Over Election Drive

By Carl Schreck

An independent Russian election-monitoring group has accused television networks -- primarily state-controlled -- of violating election laws by delivering free campaign advertising for President Vladimir Putin ahead of the March presidential election he is widely expected to win.

Golos, which Russia authorities have designated a "foreign agent" under a controversial law on nongovernmental organizations, alleged this week that federal, regional, and local networks have aired dozens of segments in recent weeks that constitute "illegal campaigning" for Putin.

These reports, which focus mainly on a nationwide "volunteer" drive to collect the 300,000 valid signatures Putin must submit to register as an independent for the March 18 election, feature clearly slanted reporting in Putin’s favor and, in most cases, are not connected to his job as president, Golos said in a January 16 statement.

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