When the «YUKOS affair» first started up in late 2003 and early 2004, people at the oil company told me that they were suddenly unable to place television ads for YUKOS gasoline and motor oil anywhere on Russian TV. Either they were being told all the slots had been sold already, or they were being asked to pay preposterously high rates that made no economic sense. Judging by a recent article in the general-interest weekly «Sobesednik» that our Russian correspondent Grigory Pasko brought to my attention, blacklisting of politically-incorrect individuals is rife on Russian TV these days as well, and only getting worse as the “elections” approach. The story below concerns Mikhail Delyagin, with whom I worked on several occasions while I was still being allowed to visit Russia. Apparently, only his foot is now allowed past the censor.—R.A. From the weekly magazine «Sobesednik» issue No. 42, 29 October 2007, Television section Authors: Marina Suranova, Andrei Gamalov Where are the legs sticking out from? A mysterious story took place in one of the editions of Kira Proshutinskaya’s program “The People Want to Know”. A “ghost” appeared in the picture – legs, belonging, apparently, to a live person before the video editors had “erased” him… Fact… These legs, visible in the picture, belonged to the director of the Institute for Problems of Globalization, Mikhail Delyagin. Mikhail Delyagin’s face used to make regular appearances on Russian TV. Now he’s lucky if he gets his leg in the picture (that’s it in the bottom left corner). “The topic of that program concerned state interference in the economy”, recalled Mikhail Gennadievich in response to a question from «Sobesedink» about what that was. “We talked about how with a state such as ours, we are ensured a systemic crisis in the nearest future. But personally I didn’t say anything seditious either while we were on the air, or before it, or afterwards!”