TODAY: Bolotnaya Square protesters’ detentions extended; Putin and wife announce divorce; Kasparov’s exile snubbed by Investigative Committee; Medvedev says E.U. blocking Gazprom Nord Stream access; Central Bank to hold interest rates; Communists want Elton John to dress down.

The trial against the 12 Bolotnaya Square protesters, charged with violence against police and participation in alleged mass riots, began yesterday in Moscow.  Ten of the twelve defendants have already spent over a year in jail, despite the lack of any convictions, and in response to prosecutors’ requests, will have their detentions extended by six months.  Opposition figures, including Solidarity’s Ilya Yashin, say that the case is part of a wider campaign of political repression. ‘The case is fabricated from beginning to end.’  President Vladimir Putin has announced that he is divorcing his wife Lyudmila Putina after 30 years of marriage.  The split was announced during a joint interview on national television, with both sides speaking amicably. ‘Lyudmila Alexandrovna and I will always remain very close, I’m sure of it, forever.’  The LA Times says Putina aired her grievances with her husband, over his absences and criticisms, in a biography over 10 years ago (in which she joked that he is ‘a vampire’).  The head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill, issued a strong condemnation of divorce last year.