TODAY: Opposition Rally in St Petersburg draws thousands, ends in detentions; Kremlin critics present new strategy in Moscow.  Will Putin show mercy for Russia’s political prisoners? Patriarch Kirill wades in on Pussy Riot; police brutality in spotlight again; Moscow region governor forced out; Medvedev meets with Kofi Annan on Syria; discusses missile defense shield with Obama

A sanctioned opposition rally in St Petersburg on Saturday was attended by between 1000 and 2000 people, depending on the source.  Police detained more than ten people who tried to march down the city’s main avenue following the rally.  A man dressed up in a penguin costume was also detained; the offending bird apparently belonged to a pro-Kremlin faction.  In Moscow, Left front leader Sergei Udaltsov and People’s Freedom Party co-founder Boris Nemtsov gathered with around 250 other opposition leaders and supporters to present their new plans for further government-critical rallies.  Nemtsov told the press that he anticipated that Putin’s inauguration day would be marked with the pardoning of a number of famous inmates.  The New York Times reports on how state-run NTV raised the ire of the protest movement.