TODAY: May Day demonstrations planned; Agora claims 267 rights organisations subjected to raids; Surgutneftegas and transparency; Skolkovo sues Ilya Ponomaryov; Ukraine and Putin; Gazprom and Europe; U.S. praises cooperation; flights suspended over Syria; Perm blaze owner sentenced.

Roughly 1.7 million people are planning to take part in May Day demonstrations today in over 1,000 Russian cities and towns, according to a trade union representative; gay rights activists are planning to hold ‘Rainbow Mayday’ demonstrations in Moscow and St. Petersburg.  The Moscow mayor’s office says it won’t sanction an Opposition Coordination Council march for next Tuesday, arguing that ‘holding a rally on a working day is impossible’.  Rights group Agora says that activists have allegedly registered 267 inspections of NGOs all over Russia since the process began in March – itself included.  Agora says it will not comply with ‘unlawful’ demands to register as a ‘foreign agent’.  The Memorial rights center, also called upon to register as a ‘foreign agent’, plans to ignore the request.  Surgutneftegas’s disclosure of mammoth cash reserves has underlined ‘the lack of transparency that continues to weigh on the state-dominated sector,’ says Reuters.  Duma lawmaker and opposition member Ilya Ponomaryov is being sued by the Skolkovo Foundation, for as yet unspecified claims relating to a disputed contract for lecturing and research work.