In an unambiguous show of support for the new Kyrgyz government, Russian security forces have detained the top police official of the ousted Kyrgyz government and sent him to pre-trial detention in Bishkek, says Reuters.  ‘Both purposeful and adrift, Russian and U.S. foreign policies could soon collide in Kyrgyzstan‘ over their military bases, speculates a Moscow Times reporter, whilst the U.S. and Russian presidents have issued a joint statement, marking an anniversary of their WW2 accord, calling for ‘mutual trust and shared commitment to victory‘.  Meanwhile, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko is unhappy that Russia’s bases in his country are not paid for, particularly following the recent deal with Ukraine trading an extended Sevastopol naval base lease for reduced gas prices, and may snub the May meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in protest.  ‘Several thousand‘ Ukrainians protested on Saturday in a rally against the Sevastopol deal, reports The Independent.  Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who presided over the event, called for the protesters to issue ‘a clear and systematic rebuff‘ to the ratification of the agreement, which begins this week.  Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told a Polish delegation that a thorough investigation into the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 96 others would ‘define the level of trust between Russia and Poland in future years‘.

Liliya Shobukhova has become the first Russian to win the women’s section of the London’s Marathon, with a time of 2:22:00.  United Russia has applied to the Duma’s ethics commission seeking a one-month speaking ban on Vladimir Zhirinovsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party, for the ‘rude manner and inappropriate tone‘ in which he accused Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov of corruption last week, says the Moscow Times.  Will Russia’s 2012 elections see a competition between Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin? 

Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman estimates that violent acts kill 2,000 children in Russia every year.  The New York Times, joining the flurry of recent reports on the state of Russia’s orphans, suggests that ‘Russian orphans suffer from psychological disorders at much higher rates than do orphans in many other countries.‘  The Independent explains the growing popularity of Sambo, ‘once the official in-house martial art [and state secret] of the KGB‘.  Is Russian art the market’s ‘latest bubble‘?  A ‘grizzly‘ new Afghan museum documents anti-Soviet war efforts.