Alexander Bastrykin, the head of the Investigative Committee, has accused Yury Luzhkov’s Deputy Mayor Alexander Ryabinin of fleeing the country over allegations of corruption, although Ryabinin says that he is merely on vacation, spurring speculation that the Kremlin is ‘trying to pressure Luzhkov‘ into an early resignation.  The Other Russia quotes a Moscow administration source as saying that Ryabinin’s absence is causing ‘a terrible panic in the mayor’s office‘.  Bastrykin himself is under fire from law firm Firestone Duncan, who insists that Bastrykin’s denial of physical or psychological abuse in the case of Sergei Magnitsky amounts to a ‘high-level, state-sponsored cover-up‘.  Boris Gryzlov has implied that Russia will not ratify the new START treaty until the US senate looks ready to approve it, which, he suggests, may not happen until after the November congressional elections.  A 200-strong ‘flash mob‘ appeared at the governor’s office in Samara in order to protest the absence of four independent candidates from the election register, reports RFE/RL.