TODAY: Putin applauds his own decision to return to presidency; OSCE agrees to fewer monitors than initially hoped for; two pretrial detention deaths in one week, investigation launched into case of Kudoyarov; protesters defend Lake Baikal deforestation; former United Russia members discusses Yukos; Chechnya pays celebrities, traffic, more yeti fever. 

The death of school principal Andrei Kudoyarov in pretrial detention is reminiscent of the death of Sergei Magnitsky, notes this piece, as news breaks of a second detention death this week and an investigation into Kudoyarov’s death is launched.  William Browder has been speaking to RFE/RL about the ongoing search for justice for Magnitsky (click for video).  A group of protesters rallied in Irkutsk yesterday to protest a deforestation project near Lake Baikal. Following what he calls a politically motivated conviction for fraud, former United Russia member Maksim Dudarev is alleging that authorities orchestrated a fraudulent Yukos auction in 2004.  Mikhail Prokhorov says he plans to return to politics when the conditions are right.