TODAY: Four years on from murder of Natalya Estemirova, investigation is stalled; Europe voices concern on NGO law; anti-gay legislation under scrutiny; Putin plays submariner. Russia high in GDP rankings; oil and gas firms channel funds into budget. Some mixed messages on Snowden; Berlin espionage deal in the works. 

To mark the anniversary of the abduction and murder of rights worker Natalya Estemirova, the US Department of State has issued a statement in her memory and that of murdered Forbes journalist Paul Klebnikov, calling upon Russia to ‘protect journalists and human rights defenders’.  A colleague of Estemirova’s from Memorial, Alexander Cherkasov, has told the media that the probe into her killing has stalled, a charge which the Investigative Committee has sharply rebuffed.  Kheda Saratova, another colleague of the rights defender, has compared the probe to that of fellow slain Kremlin critic Anna Politkovskaya.  Russian human rights advocate and former presidential human rights council head Ella Pamfilova has been summoned for questioning by the Investigative Committee for reasons that remain unclear.  The human rights commissioner for the Council of Europe has warned of the ‘chilling effect’ that the Kremlin’s NGO law will have on the protection of human rights.  Police have detained five opposition activists on Red Square for organizing an unsanctioned demonstration against new anti-gay legislation.  The Huffington Post has a video report on what the law means for Russians.  The mayor of Reykjavik, Jón Gnarr, has called for the Icelandic capital to cease all ties with Moscow over the anti-gay propaganda ban.  Vladimir Putin has expressed his own particular brand of masculinity by riding a submersible down to a shipwreck in the Gulf of Finland.