Today’s Washington Post editorial draws attention to the three-day jail sentence handed to Lev Ponomaryov for ‘peacefully carrying his nation’s flag‘, and examines the wider implications about oppression in Russia as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expresses his views on opposition protests, saying that he ‘doesn’t understand‘ why protesters go ahead without being granted permission to demonstrate.  ‘If you went out without a right to [demonstrate] – you get hit on the head. That’s it!‘  Putin also added his voice to widespread opposition of the plan to construct a highway through the Khimki forest, as contractor Teplotekhnik announced that it had already cleared almost half of the area originally set out for destruction.