TODAY: Ekho Moskvy faces inspection; rights lawyer seeks U.S. asylum; trouble in store for Memorial; sub continues to spook Sweden. Cash gap remains sticking point in Ukraine-Russia gas negotiations; Moscow imposes Ukrainian fruit and vegetable import ban; Kremlin mourns loss of Total CEO. 

Kremlin-critical radio station Ekho Moskvy is facing an unscheduled 20-day inspection by the prosecutor’s office, two days after the station broadcast an interview with opposition leader Alexei Navalny which prompted threats of ‘problems‘.  Corruption-battling attorney Andrei Stolbunov, who gained fame for representing journalist Mikhail Beketov, is seeking asylum in the U.S. amid fears the authorities will launch a politically-motivated case against him.  A Bulgarian court has refused to extradite Kremlin critic Nikolai Koblyakov.  The prospect of Russia’s Memorial human rights organisation being liquidated has Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, worried.  Sweden’s military continues to observe ‘foreign underwater activity‘ (the suspected presence of a Russian submarine) near the country’s capital, in a story drawing ‘Hunt For Red October’ comparisons.  In the Arctic, on the other hand, Russia’s increasing military presence is apparently flagrant.  A new report by Amnesty International finds that reports of atrocities in the Ukraine conflict have been grossly exaggerated on both sides as part of a ongoing propaganda war.