TODAY: Putin launches on-line campaign; accused of censorship after slew of negative comments removed; Peskov’s spin attempt.  Prime Minister vows to fight corruption and remove officials who fail to keep utilities costs low. OSCE finds Dec election undemocratic; St Petersburg protests; Khordokovksy and the presidentials. Evidence of Russian military support for Al-Assad regime?  Moscow fears possible US military intervention in Iran; Olympic disputes

Vladimir Putin has launched his online manifesto, at putin2o12.ru, for the March 2012 elections with pledges to introduce reforms, among them promises to end police repression and improve the accountability of the government.  The online manifesto was apparently greeted by a barrage of negative comments, which were rated as the site’s most popular, and were subsequently removed.  According to Ria-Novosti, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied reports that critical comments were being eradicated and suggested that the site had frozen.   A claim difficult to support, when one blogger, according to the NY Times, apparently discovered a way to access comments that had been submitted but not published.  The Prime Minster’s cyber-problems reflect the general ineptitude of the regime when it comes to strategically using the Internet, argues Brian Whitmore.  Peskov has attempted to distance Putin from the online campaign, suggesting the web-phobic PM will in due time present his own presidential election program, which will differ from the program currently presented, which was, he claims, a United Russia project.  The Washington Post reports, however, that the site was created under a contract with the Putin campaign.  Putin has pledged that, if he becomes President, governors who allow an increase in utility bills will be fired.  The regional utilities chief in Bryansk has been sacked following the death of a toddler in a sidewalk accident.