TODAY: Russian ship halted on way to deliver helicopters to Syria; Obama says Russia understands dangers of Syrian civil war; Cameron and Lavrov argue over Putin’s investment in Assad’s rule; Medvedev pledges support for Chechnya; Putin promises retaliation for any U.S. Magnitsky sanctions; European Court dismisses Yabloko complaint; Yulia Latynina on Investigative Committee reconciliation with Novaya Gazeta.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague says that a Russian ship thought to be carrying attack helicopters has been halted on its way to Syria, after the ship’s London-based insurer, Standard Club, under pressure from British officials, withdrew its coverage.  Russia’s Defence Ministry denied earlier reports that it had sent a warship to Syria.  U.S. President Barack Obama says that both China and Russia recognise the danger of civil war in Syria, despite not having agreed to any plans to remove President Bashar al-Assad.  British Prime Minister David Cameron says President Vladimir Putin has made it ‘explicit’ that he is not invested in Assad’s rule, although Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Cameron’s remarks were inaccurate.  RFE/RL looks at Russia’s strategic interests in Syria’s Tartus deep-water port.  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev made a visit to Chechnya yesterday, pledging support for its development and claiming the health of the region as a government priority (the region could receive $52.2 billion in funding through to 2025).  The Governor of Moscow, Sergei Shoigu, has spoken out in support of activists defending a forest in Zhukovsky which is being razed to clear a path for a road to Medvedev’s National Aviation Center.