TODAY: Opposition festival of resistance to take place today; will Mikhail Prokhorov make a difference to the Right Cause? Russia criticizes Minsk’s draconian treatment of opposition; Sochi posters cause a stir. Khodorkovsky’s prison attacker claims to have been forced; Yukos lawyer attacked. Could Russia negotiate Libyan ceasefire?  Moscow peeved over missile defense

According to the Washington Post, Russian opposition groups plan to hold a ‘festival of civil resistance’ in Moscow today to mark the debut of a campaign against the dominant United Russia party.  The Moscow Times ponders whether Russia’s third richest man Mikhail Prokhorov will have any tangible impact on the Right Cause party, which, according to one analyst, ‘doesn’t really exist’ at the moment.  Certain analysts argue that the move is certainly not a sign of autonomy: ‘Major businessmen are under the authorities’ control […] If the government says you have to head a party, you head a party.’  The Other Russia has an amusing feature examining how the Kremlin’s website explains the notion of the political opposition to children.  The Kremlin has criticized the Belarusan government for the ‘harsh’ sentences handed down to opposition activists, saying they ‘cannot fail to raise questions’.  The latest news from Minsk reports that journalist Irina Khalip, the wife of opposition presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, has received a two-year suspended sentence.  A set of promotional posters linked to the 2014 Winter Olympics have caused controversy for their usage of seemingly Third Reich-inspired imagery.