TODAY: Lavrov reportedly denies that Syrian government attacking Homs civilians; Moscow won’t agree to Sudan sanctions; Navalny accuses Chechen ministry of fraudulent spending; pro and anti government protests planned for this month; Gorbachev on Putin; Kommersant seeks to open case against Nashi; Krasnoyarsk soldiers suffer outbreak of pneumonia.

Moscow’s next opposition protest is planned for February 26, with organisers anticipating enough participants to surround the Kremlin’s 16-kilometer Garden Ring with a human chain.  A pro-Putin rally will be held in Moscow on February 23, with organisers saying that they expect 200,000 people to show.  Putin’s election fund is currently thought to stand at around $12.7 million.  A 10-minute-long, pro-Putin flash mob, held yesterday by a new youth group in Moscow, ended in some detentions.  Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev says that Putin has ‘exhausted himself’ with 12 years of rule, and called for his system of government to be ‘destroyed’.  Gorbachev has been invited to join, but not lead, the League of Voters.  Kommersant has asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to open a case against Nashi officials, part of what the Moscow Times calls a more widespread backlash against the pro-Kremlin youth organisation.  Nashi refutes the allegations, which are related to emails recently leaked by the Anonymous group of hackers.  The same group forced a United Russia website offline yesterday, citing ‘nauseating’ content in praise of Vladimir Putin.