TODAY: Syrian opposition blames Russia; internet firewall bill approved by Duma; Russian delegates fight U.S. Magnitsky act; Lebedev debit card to fund Navalny; Tajikistan ups military base rent; opposition seek to gather 10,000.

‘The Syrian people are suffering because of Russia,’ says the head of the Syrian National Council, as a fleet of Russian warships head for Tartus.  Despite protests from online companies and proponents of free speech, a bill to create a ‘website blacklist’ to ban websites with certain extreme content has sailed through the Duma, and will become law after Vladimir Putin signs it.  ‘The problem is that it’s possible to technologically block off all of the platforms because of one particular situation, even though that’s not the purpose of the law,’ noted one official.