TODAY: Whistleblower Alexei Navalny’s determination revealed in Guardian interview; activists take a stand on torture in prison; Left Front leader released.  Russians evacuated from violence-hit Tripoli; Sergei Lavrov warns against putting pressure on North African states; Defenders of Fatherland Day marked by small nationalist rally; Medvedev flexing his muscles with FSB firing?  Glonass launch delayed; Anna Chapman denounced by Dagestan villagers; Moscow expo brings Russia and US together

Today’s Guardian has an interview with fearless corporate whistleblower, lawyer Alexei Navalny, a ‘one man Wikileaks’ who believes that corruption in Russia will remain endemic ‘until the Vladimir Putin regime falls’.  A group of leading Russian human rights advocates have written a letter, which can be read here, to President Medvedev urging him to put an end to the use of torture in prison.  Opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov has been released from prison after serving his ten-day sentence; the Left Front leader emerged six kilos lighter, after going on hunger strike.  ‘Russia is simply too wealthy for the next attempt at democracy not to be successful’ – as the Middle East quakes with political turmoil, Anders Aslund argues that a strong economic climate is a precondition for a movement towards democracy.  According to Russian officials, all Russian citizens have been airlifted from Tripoli, the violence-ridden Libyan capital, although reports have surfaced of Russian nationals stranded in other parts of the country.  Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told the head of Arab League that Russia will not back ‘attempts to whip up tensions in the region’, but advocates a peaceful, dialogue-based approach to events.