A journalist being killed in a war zone, albeit one nominal under US control, is not the same circumstances as a journalist being executed in broad daylight on the streets of Washington. I think our Paddy friend said it all.

Regarding Medvedev’s behavior and his potential to move out of Putin’s shadow – this is about as likely as, say, Putin voluntarily relinquishing his personal 5% stake in Gazprom There is not a single piece of evidence pointing to Medvedev gaining personal control over any of the Russian state pillars – oil, gas or FSB – and it is going to stay this way until something drastic happens.

“It would have also provoked such responses from leaders in Canada, Australia, Japan, almost all of Europe.”

You really think so? I don’t think they would even notice”

”I mean, journalists are mowed down in Iraq constantly. Has anybody mentioned anything? Sure, it’s Iraq, but the place is at least nominally under US control.”

Its not the USA though, and death is unfortunately a regular occurance there. If a journalist was shot in the US, there’s no doubt that something would come from Obama and I’m sure Bush as well.

I’m not trying to be a smartarse here, genuinely, but I think you may have actually forgotten what living in a western country is like. Journalists – bad or good, right or wrong – tend to expose stories and tend to be reasonably prominent. When one of them gets shot dead, our leaders do tend to comment, usually in horror.

Paul Rudd, PM Australia – would go absolutely nuts

Helen Clarke, New Zealand – would want the perpetrators hung by the balls, and would say so live on tv. Her recent replacement John Key would say much the same

Brian Cowen, Ireland – no ranting but he would certainly get cross and comment

Gordon Brown, United Kingdom – without doubt would have a moan

Angela Merkel, Germany – Frau Merkel would hardly be amused and I daresay would let the world know it.

”Of course, the Russian government likes to pretend it is just as civilized as these other great nations. Sadly, it is often revealed not to be the case.”

The problem is the general population, which I think is mirrored at the top in Russia. Most ordinary Russians would consider a journalist asking too many questions to be a threat to the state and therefore a threat to Russia. Russians, for a people so scourged by their own governments, have huge difficulty understanding that criticism of Putin and Co is not criticism of Russia in general, and cannot separate Putin from Rossia. Funnily enough the Russian adjectives for ‘Russian’ and ‘Russian state’ – Russkii and Rossiskii – make this distinction but Russians dont. Its their loss and at the end of the day if they want to be led led like that there isnt a whole lot anyone can do for them.

You really think so? I don’t think they would even notice.

The fascists (or whatever is the proper terms for those hate groups) may indeed be the perpetrators, but Markelov’s list of enemies was a long one. Perhaps we should say that the fascists are the most convenient suspect. It would be a less messy affair if the guilty party is a marginalized and hateful skinhead instead of someone in the military, or a Chechen faction (pro or con Kadyrov), or corrupt developers pissed off at Merkelov’s involvement with Beketov, and so on.

It is telling that you have a press corp around the Kremlin that doesn’t really offer questions on such topics. You can believe if a reporter in D.C. was gunned down in broad daylight, reporter after reporter would have pressed Bush or Obama for a comment. At the very least, the White House press secetary would have had some prepared statement to read.

It would have also provoked such responses from leaders in Canada, Australia, Japan, almost all of Europe. Only in Russia are such excuses made by leaders and a blind-eye turned to such crimes that occur right in the capital, within the largest and supposedly most civilized city in the Russian Federation.

Of course, the Russian government likes to pretend it is just as civilized as these other great nations. Sadly, it is often revealed not to be the case.

I am glad that Medvedev at least shows hints of being aware of these differences, and rather than dismissing them or creating excuses, chooses to step up.

I’m confused. He didn’t want to influence the investigation yet both he and Muratov agreed that the fascists were most likely? Could not this be taken as a line for the investigative authorities to take thus prejudicing the investigation against other possibilities? It is not as if Markelov only had one or two potential enemies.

Tim, you presume, as I think many Russians do, that Putin is gifted with supernatural powers to predict the future or outcome of his decisions. He is simply a politician blessed with circumstance.

He can not possibly know for certain how Medvedev might react over time.