Today: Yabloko Youth Leader plans to unseat Yavlinsky and create a new movement; Economic Development and Trade Ministry will help spin Russia’s image to inspire investors; Sochi draws huge investment, Kaliningrad is experiencing a boom; London’s Royal Academy exhibition of French and Russian paintings is in jeopardy after Russia withdraws loans of its works.

President Vladimir Putin is the first Russian to be named Time magazine’s person of the year since Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev won the title in the late 1980s. The article outlining the choice explains: “TIME’s Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world — for better or for worse.” Many have called the announcement “unlikely”.