TODAY: Lavrov downplays Syria claims; I.O.C. impressed with Putin’s attendance; Vitishko protester arrested; ethnic Sochi leader detained; Bolotnaya Square protesters granted amnesty; Medvedev planning privatisations; lingerie ban; Rusal output to be lowest in eight years; Ukraine receives latest cash injection; Iran may swap oil for nuclear power.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says the world’s impression of bloodshed in Syria is caused by the manipulation of information by the media, arguing that various sources showed ‘pictures of what was happening in Iraq 10 years ago but passed it off as what is happening in Syria today.’  The International Olympics Committee are impressed by President Vladimir Putin’s frequent appearances at the Sochi Olympics.  ‘He is clearly a big sports fan […] we are very happy for his support.’  A further protester was detained by police at the Sochi Games yesterday for ‘illegal picketing’; he was holding a sign in support of Yevgeny Vitishko, the environmental activist who was jailed last week and who is now on hunger strike.  Former Italian parliamentarian and trans woman Vladimir Luxuria says she was detained twice in Sochi in 24 hours – the second time, for wearing a rainbow headdress.  Asker Sokht, the leader of the Circassian ethnic group native to the Sochi region, has been detained under ‘unclear circumstances’. Sokht had complained that the Games were being held as if his ethnic group ‘doesn’t exist’.  Three more Bolotnaya Square protesters have been amnestied and their charges dropped, as eight more are expecting to be sentenced later this week.