TODAY: Duma to vote on Gennady Gudkov this Friday; court rules legal confiscation of Sobchak cash; rights group seeks excommunication of Patriarch Kirill; Pussy Riot festival goes ahead despite authorities’ pressure; Navalny accuses VTB; new evidence on U.S. and Katyn; Paralympic team comes second.

The State Duma will vote this Friday on whether or not to oust Kremlin critic Gennady Gudkov for his conflicts of business and political interests, instead of expelling him outright, a measure that many had called for.  Opposition figures say Gudkov’s case is one of political persecution, and are expecting his removal to pave the way for further expulsions of dissenters.  ‘United Russia holds the majority needed to pass the measure.’  A Moscow court has ruled legal investigators’ refusal to return the $1.7 million in cash seized from socialite and opposition figure Ksenia Sobchak’s apartment during a raid, as her lawyer pointed out that there is ‘no basis for […] withholding the money’, and promised to go to a higher court.  The head of Russia’s Consumer Rights Protection Society has launched a bid to have Patriarch Kirill excommunicated, on grounds that he violated the same church laws used to prosecute Pussy Riot.  A reported 1,000 people attended a music festival held in support of the group over the weekend, in St Petersburg, despite official attempts to prevent it from going ahead.