TODAY: United Russia Congress begins; expectation mounts that Putin will announce his plans; Prokhorov spin doctors claim unpaid wages. Chechens in Istanbul killed on Kremlin orders?  Russia plans sea-based missile defense; defends its conduct in 2008 war with Georgia; Russian ‘diplomacy’ in Belgrade.  Poll says more than half of Russians find life ‘difficult’; nuclear sub apparently unscathed after collision.

Will this weekend’s United Russia congress finally unlock the secret of who will run for President?  The state of uncertainty has had a paralyzing effect on Russia politics, says the FT, but at least someone is profiting; UK betting website Paddy Power has started taking bets, giving odds that put Mr Putin as 7.9 times more likely to win.  The BBC has a video on the presidential race featuring various tandem publicity stunts.  According to Bloomberg, Dmitry Medvedev may announce his backing of Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party at the congress to improve its flagging ratings.  A possible new role for the current President could be that of speaker in the State Duma, suggests the Moscow Times.  An op-ed by Michael Bohm argues that Putin and the United Russia leadership are ‘playing with fire by courting Rogozin and his dangerous brand of nationalism and xenophobia’ in order to bolster the party’s popular appeal.  Grigory Yavlinsky, co-founder of Yabloko, has announced he is ready to run for the presidency if his party gains representation in parliament.  Gennady Zyuganov will lead the Russian Communist Party.  A group of political consultants hired for Mikhail Prokhorov’s doomed State Duma campaign have apparently picketed the offices of his Onexim Group claiming unpaid wages.