TODAY: Duma votes to reintroduce direct gubernatorial elections; December voting fraud covered up as thousands register to monitor next week’s elections; Russia may soften Syria stance; Yakemenko wins defamation suit over Kashin allegations; Georgia to scrap Russia visas?

The State Duma approved, 242-2, a sweeping political reform to reintroduce the direct elections of governors.  In an interview with Izvestia, former Central Elections Commission head and current ambassador to Latvia, Alexander Veshnyakov, admits that voting fraud allegations rarely make it to court.  This Reuters report discusses allegations of voting fraud last December, and the unprecedented number of monitors who have signed up to observe this Sunday’s elections.  Tatyana Ivanova, who publicly reported that she had refused to comply with orders to falsify the results of December’s vote, is awaiting her court day.  Russia may soften its stance against action on Syria after the vote.  The WSJ profiles Mikhail Prokhorov: ‘In a country with an average wage of $700 a month, Mr. Prokhorov embodies what millions of Russians hate.’  Primorye Governor Sergei Darkin was removed from his post yesterday, likely due to his unpopularity.