Protesters gathered in Irkutsk over the weekend to protest the relaunch of the Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill, which would dump waste into Lake Baikal – RFE/RL estimates the gathering at 2,000, RIA Novosti at 1,000, and also reports that those gathered called for Putin’s resignation. Protesters want to protect the lake, but Oleg Deripaska says his decision to reopen the plant was based on ‘social considerations‘, as the plant is the main employer in Baikalsk; Deripaska plans to hand over his stake in the mills to the city.  Another estimated 2,000 protesters gathered at a counter-rally, calling for the mill to be re-opened to create jobs.  Critics would rather see the region develop its tourist industry.  Natalia Komarova, the regional governor proposed for Khanty-Mansiysk by Dmitry Medvedev (reportedly against the wishes of the population), has been unanimously approved.  The New York Times ‘find[s] it surprising that Mr. Sarkozy’s response to [the Georgian war] is to furnish the Russian navy with a vessel that, if deployed to the Black Sea, would make Russia far more capable of inflicting damage on Georgia the next time around‘.