TODAY: Russia’s concerns not eased by news that U.S. is scrapping part of its planned missile shield; opposition activist detained and strip-searched; ongoing Kremlin crackdown draws criticism; Coordination Council announces march plans; Deripaska comments on Pussy Riot, FSB; Putin bans foreign banks from opening branches in Russia; Perepilichnyy, Litvinenko, Milonov.

The new U.S. Defence Secretary, Chuck Hagel, says that the U.S. intends to scrap part of its planned European missile defence shield in favour of deployments against a possible threat from North Korea. The shield has been a major ongoing point of contention with Russia, but in response, the Kremlin says it sees ‘no concession’ in the decision.  Foreign committee head Alexei Pushkov says that the news will not dispel Moscow’s concerns about the shield.  Opposition activist Mitya Aleshkovsky was detained, threatened, and strip-searched at St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport last week after refusing to stop videoing an arrivals hall interview, but blamed the incident not on his gay rights and activist work, but on the police having ‘a poor grasp of the law’.  The New York Times says that accusations of treason against Dmitry Gudkov, made in the wake of his visit to Washington earlier this month, is part of ‘a striking move to purge the Russian Parliament of even the faintest of contrarian voices’.  The WSJ reports on the recent suicide of Alexander Dolmatov and places it in the context of a wider Kremlin crackdown on dissident voices that includes heavier penalties for attending demonstrations and criminal investigations against opposition leaders.  The investigation of the home of Kirov Governor Nikita Belykh carries a message, says this report: ‘Toe the line or lose your job.’  Alexei Navalny has announced The Opposition Coordination Council’s plans to hold two mass rallies in April and May.