Yevgenia Chirikova, one of the more prominent activists defending the 2,500-acre Khimki oak forest, praised President Dmitry Medvedev’s decision (staged in front of a leafy backdrop) to call for ‘additional analysis‘ into the construction of a highway that would require the forest to be razed. ‘Even if the decision is not final, the very fact that [Medvedev] stopped deforestation is a great victory.‘  Rights activists are criticizing the ‘unexpectedly harsh‘ three-day jail sentence for Lev Pomonaryov, the penalty for his participation in a Flag Day march.  Solidarity opposition coalition co-leader Mikhail Shneyder was also sentenced.  Medvedev has sent an international legal network appeal for justice in the case of Sergei Magnitsky over to the Investigative Committee for consideration.  Anatoly Bagmet’s replacement with a little-known Kremlin official as the Committee’s Moscow branch has analysts stumped.