TODAY: Solidarity report alleges Putin’s life of luxury drives his grip on power; church and state partnership is rooted in history; Osipova’s sentence is double that requested by prosecutors; human rights council criticises Pussy Riot verdict; religious activists storm theatre event; GM and Volkswagen planning Russian investment.

A new report by Boris Nemtsov of the opposition group Solidarity (in Russian here) indicates that President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power is largely inspired by his taste for luxury, alleging the use of 20 residencies, 50 planes and helicopters, and 700 cars.  (RFE/RL has images of some of his ‘bling’.) ‘In a country where more than 20 million people can hardly make ends meet, the luxurious life of the president is a blatant and cynical challenge to society by a limitless ruler […] We think the lifestyle of those in power must become a subject of public discussion.’  Putin’s drive to increase the state’s interaction with the Orthodox Church is the product of a long history of ‘co-dependence’, says Ilana Ozernoy.