TODAY: Gay rights activists arrested in Moscow; Memorial appeals rejected by court; tolerance, protest, anti-Semitism; Medvedev says relationship with Putin guarantees his political career; VKontakte banned ‘by mistake’; Russia’s Browder request denied by Interpol; Kyrgyzgas goes to Gazprom. 

30 gay rights activists were arrested at a rally outside the Duma in Moscow on Saturday, and several were attacked by Orthodox Christians.  Rally organiser Nikolai Alexeyev, who was among those arrested, said, ‘Putin is personally responsible. If he gives the order to allow gay pride events, then people’s perception of the gay community will radically change.’  Several dozen were arrested at a separate event outside City Hall, which had refused to sanction the protests.  All those detained have since been released.  The Regional Development Ministry says that 11 tolerance centers are to be opened in Russian cities by 2015.  Rights group Memorial, which appealed to a Moscow court to defend itself against raids by prosecutors, has had its appeal rejected after the raids were ruled legal.  Veteran rights activist and campaigner Lyudmila Alexeyeva writes in The Guardian on Vladimir Putin’s bid to destroy Russia’s ‘civil society’, blaming the Kremlin’s definition of politics as activity that influences public opinion.  Elections watchdog Golos says it prays it will not receive any more international prizes for its work, as they come with foreign money and the order to register as a ‘foreign agent’.  This piece discusses flare-ups of anti-Semitism in the Russian press; where is Russia’s protest literature?