March 4, 2011 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – March 4, 2011

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TODAY: Voina members attacked; Rogozin speaks out against Libya no-fly zone; United Russia unconcerned about unrest; Medvedev casts himself as a liberator; Tula governor to be sacked? Half of Yabloko’s election nominees banned.  Bolshoi Ballet restoration.
Three members of Voina, the opposition art collective, have been attacked and beaten in St Petersburg by unknown assailants apparently claiming to be connected to the criminal investigation department.  Members fear that they could be committed to a psychiatric hospital, a Soviet tactic against dissidents.  Just under half of Yabloko’s election nominees have been banned by local officials, spurring the party’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin to file a complaint with the Kremlin.  Dmitry Rogozin, Russia’s NATO ambassador, spoke out against talk of a no-fly zone over Libya: ‘If someone in Washington is seeking a blitzkrieg in Libya, it is a serious mistake because any use of military force outside the Nato responsibility zone will be considered a violation of international law.‘  United Russia seems confident that unrest in the Middle East and North Africa will not spread to Russia, ‘but the mere fact that representatives of the ruling elite are issuing such statements indicates the prevalence of such concerns,‘ says RFE/RL.  President Dmitry Medvedev says that Libya is ‘on the threshold of a civil war‘.