TODAY: Opposition members join forces as deputies rebel in Moscow; Pussy Riot detainee calls for meeting with Orthodox spokesperson; Russia’s anti-gay stance will stand out at G8; official presses Syria to take first steps; Kudrin to team up with Prokhorov; Saratov governor fired; former banker attacked in London; Poland exhumes plane crash bodies.

Two deputies from A Just Russia are joining forces with a member of the Public Chamber to create a Social Democratic Union aimed at uniting Russia’s disparate left-wing forces.  ‘Everyone who disagrees with United Russia’s policies needs to unite, both on the left and the right flank.’  Opposition deputies in Moscow are mounting a ‘quiet rebellion’ against United Russia, ‘showing an unusual inclination to cooperate with each other,’ and creating alternative legislatures, says Brian Whitmore.  One of the women detained in connection with punk group Pussy Riot’s performance in a cathedral has invited the Orthodox Church spokesman Vsyevolod Chaplin to visit her in jail, as the Inter-Religious council condemns the group for ‘blasphemy’ and ‘inciting hatred between believers and nonbelievers’.