Although I can see the appeal of this logic regarding the "invectives" which "are lobbed from a glass house," I think it is a poor comparison. The murder rate in Washington is indeed alarming, but the circumstances of most of these crimes are completely different from the (admittedly much less frequent) murders in Moscow. In America, these murders are often related to poverty and drugs. In Russia, these crimes are disproportionately related to journalists, reformers, and other high-profile individuals. Thus, while the numbers may be higher in America, the social impact of the murders in Russia on specific industries (e.g., journalists in the media and their willingness to write controversial exposes) is probably more profound. In America no journalists or politicians are killed, thus people in these professions are not swayed by the fear of death.

The impact the high-profile killings in Russia have on the media industry and other industries is at the heart of Western concerns about the rule of law in Russia-- not simply the per capita number of murders. Thus, this comparison is somewhat misleading.

The obvious difference, though, between DC and Moscow is that DC has no history of political purging on a massive scale. When Americans learn about Russia in schools all they hear is Stalin, which may account for some Americans' willingness to leap to the conclusion that Putin is killing journalists to stifle free-thinking; it's happened before, after all.
Also, speaking as an inhabitant of DC, while I definitely would not feel safe to walk the streets alone in the middle of the night, I would feel very comfortable writing a public editorial denouncing Bush and everything he stands for.

So are you saying it's better to be shot while walking to your Safeway at 9 pm ("safe" way...)? Is that what real freedom is these days? Wow! Good to know. Enjoy your "freedom" - I'll stick with what we have here.

Typical Soviet Demagoguery :
to get in Moscow you need "propiska"( meaning you have to have a special police permission to live in the city ) to get in DC you need nothing: it is a free country ( it hard to understand for you but it is) I would like to see what rate of murders would be in Moscow if it would be no "propiska" and if citizens of Russia would be free to live in Moscow. Moscow is state within the state and cannot represent the reality of Russia

Dmitry-

9 pm is no problem, but if you are telling me that a young woman feels safe walking down the streets of Moscow alone at 3 am, then yeah, I agree with you. I would love to have that sense of security, and if Moscow has it, that's wonderful.

To Lorin:
Whatever Dmitry would tell you, you have to realize that Moscow is a big city and there are different neighborhoods are more and less safe ( I lived in Moscow I know what I am talking about), So conversation about Moscow “in general” is pointless as conversation about any city in general.

I live in Miami and there are neighborhoods around where I am absolutely safe in any time of day or night and there are neighborhoods where I am never safe. Besides, one more time again: Moscow is not open city for all Russian citizens you have to have special permission to live in Moscow ( called “ propiska”) therefore any comparison of Moscow with Washington is apple and orange thing. You want to have more safe streets of Washington by paying price of refusing of freedom of movement within USA, by getting permission from police to live within city limits?

You have to compare Moscow with Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea for same scale comparison, or with Baghdad of Saddam’s times . If in Moscow murder rates are lower than in Pyongyang, then I would be impressed.

Al, I’m sorry if Moscow reminds you of Bagdad of Saddam’s times. They have here on the blog a photo collection of Moscow – search for it and see for yourself. It’s more advanced than many American cities.

Lorin, places where a single woman would go at 3 am are perfectly safe, and so are actually bedroom communities around the city.

Living in Moscow and having tons of friends here I’m yet to hear about assaulted person in the streets, or offended on the basis of gender and race. Friends bring millions of stories from Washington DC regarding shootings, robberies and racism (I mean against white people).

Somehow everyone decided one day that America is the ultimate role model for the rest of the world with its fairly high homicide rate, divorce rate and several trillion dollars of debt. Sorry if it sounds negative, but these are just common sense facts.

I never said it is not advanced , do not spin it on me. I know Moscow very well believe me, I am soviet ( former soviet) so do not explain me how good this town is. I do not need pictures form Moscow I defended my dissertation in this city and have family members in Moscow, so do not loose your brief on me , keep it for those Americans who know nothing about Russia.

Moscow is the one of the best cities in the world and I know it better than you , I am sure about that . But you are comparing not beauty of one city with another, you are comparing the murder rate. You do, not me. So, my point is, if you are going to compare crime situation you have take in consideration the legal system. Is that difficult to comprehend? Advancement of Moscow is in the sense of beautifications and infrastructure are irrelevant in this context. I agree that Moscow is beautiful , no need to argue with that for two reasons;

1.oil money are chip today
2. average income of Russian ( not citizen of Moscow but a citizen of Russia) is at least 10 times lower in comparison with an average USA citizen ( may be it is because all money invested in beautification of Moscow?)
Any way, my point is very simple: every citizen of US can live in Washington and it makes this city a free city as any other free city in the world Rome or Paris or Lincoln Nebraska. We are free to choose were to live. And this fact, along with obvious freedoms and conveniences, make way more difficult to control crime.

Moscow is a closed city. Even for Russians from province. This is the fact. And that name of the fact is “propiska” . So, readers who do not know that fact ,and who are going to be mislead by your spin without knowing that have to know that that even Russian citizen have to get a special permission from authorities in order to live in Moscow . Are you going to dispute that fact? If not , then you have to understand that this fact put Moscow in the same range as any other, very beautiful, but very closed cities like a Pyongyang of North Korea, or Baghdad of Saddam’s time which are( or were) very beautiful cites as well:)

About racism:
Stories of your friends are very interesting , but you have to do one of few things

Either read the real verifiable stories ( see below)
1. Amnesty International, the human rights group, described the situation as "out of control".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5173458.stm
2. Racism on Moscow suburban market
http://prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2002/5/18/10349.html
3. In a report released today, human rights watchdog Amnesty International sharply criticizes the Russian authorities for their failure to prevent racially motivated attacks.
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/05/1349684c-965d-4309-97db-6981b227971e.html
4. Moscow Cops Stop Mostly Minorities
http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103260
there are hundreds more cases overlooked by your friends finally I want to offer you to read the story from this very blog where we have pleasure to communicate :
Minorities Targeted at a Moscow Market
http://www.russiablog.org/2006/08/minorities_targeted_at_a_mosco.php
(I guess you friends are not keeping you company on this blog)

So ,first suggestion is to get a real story, second suggestion is to … change your friends. You know this beautiful Russian saying that pig is always find a dirt , I have no idea what dirty place found your friends in America. I live in this country DAILY for 8 yeas I can tell you that if you are not looking for trouble you have less chances to get in trouble that anywhere in Russia.
So “tons of friends” with “millions of stories” sounds to me like same story told over and over again by many, many people who had nothing else to do:) who actually lucky enough to have “tons of friends” and miserable enough to listen “millions of stories”.

negUSA is a bad country ? may be so

“Somehow everyone decided one day that America is the ultimate role model for the rest of the world with its fairly high homicide rate, divorce rate and several trillion dollars of debt. Sorry if it sounds negative, but these are just common sense facts.’

May be so just iagree with you happenethings are declining in USA it according to Global Competitiveness Report 2006-2007 went down form #1 to #6 . very bad. What about Russia? It went down form 53 to 62 and proudly occupying today the line below Salvador.
http://www.weforum.org/en/initiatives/gcp/Global%20Competitiveness%20Report/index.htm
Russian Federation 62 4.08 53  -9
We have problems. We do admit it and we deal with that.it makes us strong. We are not afraid of problems we deal with them. If you want to think that you do not have problem in Russia. Remmebr tha according to BBC “There are growing fears that Russia is facing a population crisis that could see the country lose up to 50 million people in the next 50 years.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3984951.stm So i cannot deny you to be proud if you wish, but I really love Russia. I do. And the worst thing what you can do today is to be proud. I am telling it to you as f friend ( I know, I know you do not want friend like me, still I honestly wish you all the best)

“Somehow everyone decided one day that America is the ultimate role model for the rest of the world” never herd about that. And if anybody did decide so they are wrong. At least it not what I am saying. What I am saying is that America is a free country and Russia is not. Period. Any objections? America is a free country and Russia is not .and therefore there is no compression. May it is bad that America is free. Nobody knows. May it is good that Russia is not. It is a question of traditions and opinion in my view. But it is our choice to be free and fight crime in free society , and you choice to be safe by any cost, including by the cost of “ propiska” .It is fine with me. It is your country. It is your life. Just do not tell me that our countries can be compared, they are too different. May be many people were shot in Washington by punks on the street , but way more people died in Russia by many other reasons , and it is tragic. So, if you are patriot you have to busy with your problems, instead of creating the sense of artificial comfort by comparing apples and oranges.

So, Dmitriy do yourself a favor do not argue with what I am not saying . I am ready to stipulate that Moscow is the most advanced and beautiful city of world .What I am saying (and you are welcome to prove me wrong with that) is the fact that Moscow is not a free city and Moscow is a police run “state within the state” closed even for Russians who were not born in Moscow. That there is a “propiska” in Moscow what is unimaginable in USA. And, my dear Dmitry, if you cannot prove me wrong you have to admit that you live in very beautiful but very closed for others , artificial megapolice . you have to admit that this magapolice, legally and politically, much more close to Pyongyang than to Washington. Thus, pleader, stop your attempts to compare life in free world with life in your czarists paradise. Tell me one thing: how many citizens of Moscow want to move in USA and how many citizens of USA are ready to move to Moscow? You need statistics or you know it by yourself?

And, yes, I almost forget , the lowest crime rate in the history of 20th century was in Berlin during Nazi times . By the way, Berlin is very beautiful city as well, would you agree with that?

Few more notes:
1.
you cannot compare USA and Russia in crime rate s for one more reason:

USA honest with statistics and Russia is not: According to “Russia’s Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov has said that the registered number of crimes in the country underestimates the real number by three times.” So”” The significant drop in crime rates points to the fact that crimes are simply not being registered, he said, citing statistics.”

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/03/09/ustinov.shtml

2. Murder rate by itself does not mean that by country or city is better or worst: For example: “Washington, DC's murder rate was SIXTEEN times higher than Zimbabwe and Zambia.”

http://christianparty.net/murdrateworld.htm

I did not hear that scared Americans relocated themselves in Zimbabwe and Zambia

3. if you are going to measure success of city or country by murder rate you have to admit that Jews are much better that Russians (and Americans) because their murder rate is one of the lowest in the world
“Israel's murder rate is only 1.4.”

http://www.gunsandammomag.com/second_amendment/rk0405/

and to leave Moscow’s rates aside ,and looking into Russia as a whole “Russia's murder rate is a staggering 30.6.’( remember “Israel's murder rate is only 1.4.? shalom , my friend)

I am very sorry for all my typos in my previous postings I had to do my posting in a hurry, I apologize and I promise to be more diligent for the next time. Thank you RUSSIA BLOG for your hospitality, patience and for such a prompt posting of all submitted texts.

Ok, guys come on, do not get too personal.
I am 100% with Dmitry on the point. Al, my friend, you are a little bit off the line here. Yes, Moscow is closed for everyone, who does not have a propiska, but you can get it instantly, once you have a real job, not sweeping the floors or washing cars, like these illegal immigrants.

If you become junior staff of any company, located in Moscow you can get it through them. It is easy, I did that once, and it took me less time than getting my residency documentations in the US. Besides, it was a pain in a neck to get to DC from West Coast and start my life over there.

Yes, I can go wherever I want in the US, but it is not that easy as you are saying. There are significant risks involved. And I can easily move with my family anywhere in Russia, Moscow, SPb you name it.

Now, racism, yes there is some occurrences in Moscow, I think it is overly used by local and foreign media though. When I lived in the US (DC), my friends were mugged on several occasions, and I had to go help them out in a middle of the night. They were mugged in their own porches or while returning back from a grocery store. These people lost their wallets, got beaten up and called bunch of racist names. Do you think that this is a problem, or its just `wrong place-wrong time` type of thing? Plus my friends are not only white, some are Asians.

On murder rates – please please please guys drop that obscene idea that Putin kills all these poor journalists!! Sorry, but this is `alien-controlling-your-mind` type of thing. You should wear aluminum foil as a hat; you know, to protect your brains, if you believe that Putin does it. It is just too funny to even discuss it. So you really think that Putin`s secret service team is so lame that when they need to eliminate someone, they will create so much publicity over it?? Really? Then we are talking about kindergarten kids working for KGB and not well-trained professionals. Besides, you are talking about Politkovskaya, who was writing yellow-dirty-laundry type of articles on Chechnya. Have you ever read these articles?? There are no facts, just blind hate on everything that is related to Kadirov, Chechya and his government. Sorry, when I read her article I was feeling like I put my head in sewage for an hour. Who killed her? Kadirov, or his emotionally unstable service people, or some crazy Chechnya fan, or some guy, who wanted people to think that Russian President killed her, who knows? Ok, Kadirov is not an angel, he is a former terrorist and not really politically correct governor, but he is not Russian and he is local – here is your freedom for minorities in Russia. Minority state got minority president! Alleluia!! Triumph of the democracy!　Isn`t that what most of the developed democracies crave?

Thank you Kenji. Could've not said it better!

to Kenji Yamamoto
Thank you for your feedback,Kenji!!

1.

The presumption that “you can get [propiska] instantly, once you have a real job” is just bluntly not true. In opposite you cannot get a job without propiska. But I am ready to stipulate, for the sake argument, that it is true. If it even is a true what does it change? I was saying that nowhere in free world you need to get ANY KIND of special permission from authorities to live in your capital city. And in Russia you have to get this permission. It is easy to get or not , is irrelevant. It is already makes this city not a regular capital city of a country but a restricted for others selected by authorities enclave , and it makes crime control way more easy task than in Washington. Therefore you cannot compare both cities as equals, because one ( Washington) is free another (Moscow) is not. This is my point and prove me wrong.
Let presume that indeed “if you become junior staff of any company, located in Moscow you can get it through them. But what if you are not a “junior staff” ? You just a Russian citizen, who for some reasons want to live in the capital city of his country? Can you imagine that in order to get a permission to live in Washington you have to ” become junior staff of any company” otherwise police will kick you out of city?

“I did that once, and it took me less time than getting my residency documentations in the US. “

a)why permission to live in your capital city should be compared with a process of getting residency in another country ?

b) when you were in USA did you need any permission to move to Washington when you already got into the USA?

Good example, by the way, it just prove that Moscow is state within state, not just a city.

Kenji, just remember that it is much more easy to get all necessary permissions in Russia for foreigners than for its own citizens. Russia always treated own citizens as second class people and you have no idea what it means to be Russian citizen in Russia and be not permitted into live in Moscow.

2. “Besides, it was a pain in a neck to get to DC from West Coast and start my life over there.” What kind of pain? Were you restricted legally from getting residency in Washington?

“I can go wherever I want in the US, but it is not that easy as you are saying.”

I never said it is easy I said it is legally not restricted, was it?

“I can easily move with my family anywhere in Russia, Moscow, SPb you name it.”

It is not about you personally . I do not know your situation. May be you have all permissions you need, or may be you one of those lucky “junior staff of any company, located in Moscow “ . It is not about you personally, it is about
UNCONDITIONAL right of any citizen to move freely throughout the country and to live in capital city without asking permission from authorities, unless you are criminal. And one more time again , foreigners are way more free in Russia than Russian citizens themselves.

3. “Now, racism, yes there is some occurrences in Moscow, I think it is overly used by local and foreign media though.”

You can think whatever you want, but there is fairly well document trail of events which without doubts showing racism in Russia in general and in Moscow in particular.
Overplayed by press? What does that mean? Are any facts which I listed are untrue? If so, prove it. I am not quoting opinions of press, so it cannot be about overplaying. I am listing the facts. Facts cannot be overplayed. They either true or not. I can give you more facts if you wish. Unless they are not true it is not a question of overplaying.

4. Your recollections about mugging etc. I have no idea why you guys pressing on your own bad experiences in Washington. I never said it is a good city in terms of crime. I am saying that

a) Washington is not all USA
b) it is much more difficult to control crime in a free city than in the city were only “junior staff of any company located in “ in the city is permitted to live

5. “drop that obscene idea that Putin kills all these poor journalists!!”
I never said that and it is totally different topic. I am not going in this direction because I have no idea what you are saying. Just few notes:

a)“So you really think that Putin`s secret service team is so lame that when they need to eliminate someone, they will create so much publicity over it?? Really? “
We do not know how many of them were eliminated without publicity. Do you?
b) May be “ Politkovskaya, .. was writing yellow-dirty-laundry type of articles on Chechnya” so, does it mean that she had to be killed? In normal world journalist could be sued if journalist is lying. If journalist is not lying and you just do not like what journalist writes , so do not read it. In Russia these journalists are killed and you guys are saying that they are deserve it because of what and how they did write?
thus:
you are “100% with Dmitry on the point”
What point is that ? Nobody yet proved any of what I saying wrong

“Al, my friend, you are a little bit off the line here.”
What did I say wrong,Kenji? Or you just do not like what I am saying?

and thank you for calling me friend, Kenji:)

P.S. I have no idea why did you mention Kadirov and how he is related to murder rate in Washington , therefore I will postpone my feedback on that until you clarify what did you mean.

Well, comparing cities is tough, especially half-a-world apart, from different countries and historical/cultural backgrounds. It boils down to one thing: every frog praises its own bog (as one Russian proverb puts it). Namely, the denizens of D.C. will love and extol their city, whilst their counterparts in Moscow will do the same for Moscow. One's affinity for something (or someone) always tends to belittle the negative and concentrate on the positive.

However, I'm 100% on the same page with Kenji regarding the view that Putin is somehow involved in these murders of journalists and defected agents. It's alluring to draw this parallel, considering that the commonality factor for Politkovskaya, Safronov and Litvinenko is their criticism of Putin. An all-too-obvious fact that gets exploited to the fullest degree possible (and then some) by critics of Putin. Seems like they just get handed the best stuff that fits a bit too perfectly with their incessant portrayal of Putin as an evil intolerant ex-KGB power-usurper.

Notwithstanding all of the “obvious”, if one has but a hint of common sense, he/she will quickly realize that none of the above mentioned slain were of much consequence.

Litvinenko was ignored even by liberal Western media. He wasn’t that big of a fish in FSB, and couldn’t really divulge anything of importance. Besides, after awhile he began propounding such outlandish claims about Putin’s administration and FSB that even the trashiest of newspapers wouldn’t buy any of it. The guy craved attention, but couldn’t quite get it, God rest his wretched soul.

Kenji had already touched on Politkovskaya and the smoke she’d been blowing about Kadirov and Chechnya. The only audience she had was eager US and A [sic] and Western Europe, ever so ardently seeking to discredit and slander Putin any way they can.

Safronov was covering problems in Russian army. Boo-hoo, big news. Putin had publicly acknowledged that the army needs serious reforms and needs to address the problems of conscript abuse and such. His efforts are hindered by top military brass, however, hence the move to appoint Serdyukov as defense minister -- who has no military background -- to preclude any pressure from an existing military hierarchy.

In short, none of the deceased in question posed any threat to Putin’s “regime”. Mr. Putin enjoys 81% of approval (by last poll) in Russia. That’s all that matters to him. He could spit from a high tower on the opinions and views expressed by Western media. His responsibility is to the citizens of Russia, their interests and well-being. And even if in fact their illustrious journalism was damaging Putin’s reputation, it’s not a reason for him to order their execution. Conspiracy my ass.

To conclude, it looks more like these murders were orchestrated by parties interested in besmearing Mr. Putin. I would not even rule out possible involvement and perpetration by the self-righteous UK and USA. How’s that for a conspiracy, eh? Stick that in your pipe and smoke it! An eye-opening perspective, that’s for sure.

To Al Groroh:
“Well, comparing cities is tough, especially half-a-world apart, from different countries and historical/cultural backgrounds. It boils down to one thing: every frog praises its own bog (as one Russian proverb puts it). Namely, the denizens of D.C. will love and extol their city, whilst their counterparts in Moscow will do the same for Moscow. One's affinity for something (or someone) always tends to belittle the negative and concentrate on the positive.”

1. Another twist:
a)I do not compare cities I am saying they can be compared only within their own league.

i)Closed cities with their forced order and safety: Moscow and Pyongyang (very beautiful city as well with very smart and hard working people),

ii)free cities with its theirs mess: Washington and …. New York and London etc.

It is not about who likes what. It is about different types of societies that produce different types of crime situations. And here AL Gorhoh ( terrific name by the way ) is absolutely correct: one likes safety for the cost of freedom, another prefers to fight crime without giving up fundamental right of free movement within the country. This is what I am saying and please prove me wrong.
b) I never said that Washington is a good city. I hate this city and would never live there (I prefer Boston). What I am saying: it is a free city, not like Moscow.

2. About Putin and all these murders: well…. Who cares?
Obviously, if tomorrow Putin would kill all those annoying critics in the broad daylight , and it would be taped and broadcasted, half of Russians will still that it is American conspiracy (eye opening??!!:))) and other half will like him even more for doing that. Eventually, he only would increase his rating , am I wrong about that ? This is what Russia is all about. Strong tsar!!! Serfs like a strong master. Al Gorhoh is absolutely correct: whatever Putin does will be justified by Russians and even more, whatever anybody does to implicate him , Americans will be blamed ( who else???)

But guys , relax. Nobody here cares about what you do in your country. You think it is OK to whack all your critics, so do it. It is your life it is your country, but you cannot dictate what to think about your doings . I am positive that Putin will enjoy his rating no matter what , as Stalin did . And I am not saying that it is bad. It is just different from other countries, that’s all

But again, be sure nobody cares, keep whacking your critics if it brings your president rating up
By the way, just to conspiracy your ass: why Putin cannot whack all his critics freely if he is sure that you, and others like you, would think that it is not him in any way, and all this an American conspiracy? He knows what people like you think (he is KGB shpick after all ))) He knows what you think , and therefore, he does not bother about any cover up, just does what he has to do because you ,in any way, would say it is not him because it is too obvious or whatever reasons you are saying ( I am not sure) and whatever he does he will be justified by Russians.

But again, world is big: I heard that in one African country, their czar ate all his opponents ,it might be it was American conspiracy as well, who knows ???? But I can assure you that around here, nobody cares what Putin does ! Let him whack them all . You will invent another “eye opening” theory anyway to prove that your csar is above suspicion.
It is your problem, you like it? Enjoy it!!!

Oopss…. did you hear that ? one more journalist is down!! Oopps one more businessmen got killed, ooops one more critic of army fell down from the window …damn Americans killed all Putin’s critics . It is conspiracy!!!!!
Message from Putin to his critics : IF YOU DECIDE TO CRITIQUE ME AND YOU GOT KILLED REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOU WILL BE KILLED IT LOOKS LIKE THESE MURDERS WERE ORCHESTRATED BY PARTIES INTERESTED IN BESMEARING ME. I WOULD NOT EVEN RULE OUT POSSIBLE INVOLVEMENT AND PERPETRATION BY THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS UK AND USA. !!!!!

Actually, I don't think you will find too many Americans that will be proud of the living conditions that exist in DC. The local government is usually corrupt. How many cities can claim that their mayor was caught trying to buy crack.

It doesn't help that the law-abiding population in DC has been disarmed by the gov't with the comprehensive ban on gun ownership; or that it is considered politically correct in the US for blacks to be racist towards other groups of people. I suppose we have the soviets to thank for that one.
http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/02/cultural_marxism.html

About "killing journalist" as you may lean here http://www.rsf.org/killed_2006.php3 , most jouranlists dying in Iraq: 40/year. In Mexico were was 9 killings, and 6 in Filipines. Colombia, India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, lebanon and even Israel is more dangerous places to be an journalist.

Yes, in Russia Anna Politkovskaya was shot in 2006, but only enemies of Russian goverment benefit from that. Other journalists died in Russia last year was NOT political killing, it was ordinary crime. For example, Ilya Zimin was killed by his own friend when they were drunk and had some argument.

Russia overcoming terrible time of wild 90-s. There was over 200 jouranlists died under pro-western "liberal" Eltsin ruling. 20 died since Putin came to power, most of them in troubling Caucasus region.

Also, please remember what not only bad politcs want some journalists to be dead. Mafia and other criminals angry to free press as well. Some journalists dying in terrorist atacks, like Adlan Khassanov http://www.rsf.org/killed_2004.php3?id_article=10343

And, finally: There are no journalists imprisoned in Russia, not cecsorship exist, no cyberdissidents. There are two imprisoned journalists in USA.

to dimetc form al :
1.
“About "killing journalist" as you may lean here http://www.rsf.org/killed_2006.php3 , most jouranlists dying in Iraq: 40/year. In Mexico were was 9 killings, and 6 in Filipines. Colombia, India, China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, lebanon and even Israel is more dangerous places to be an journalist.”
So what you are essentially is saying that there are countries worse than Russia/? Mexico were was 9 killings, and 6 in Filipines. Colombia, India, China, Pakistan Sri Lanka, lebanon and even Israel ?I agrre that there some countries with even worse records on press than Russia ( not that many but some) Nobody saying the at Russia is the worst, what I am saying is that it is odd that you have such a popular support for killing of journalist as Putin enjoy it in Russia.
2.
“Yes, in Russia Anna Politkovskaya was shot in 2006, but only enemies of Russian goverment benefit from that. Other journalists died in Russia last year was NOT political killing, it was ordinary crime. For example, Ilya Zimin was killed by his own friend when they were drunk and had some argument.”
I know nothing about Zimin but if you are saying that Politkovskaya and Sofronov are not political killings … I have no comments
3.
“And, finally: There are no journalists imprisoned in Russia, not cecsorship exist, no cyberdissidents. There are two imprisoned journalists in USA.”
two imprisoned journalists in USA? Who are them? If they broke the law they go to prison, this is the USA nobody above the law. Neither president nor journalists .
4.
“cecsorship exist, no cyberdissidents” ???
Could; you elaborate on that ? Out of curiosity what is that , what did you mean?

The Washington area has a murder rate of 7 per 100,000 - LOWER than that of Moscow.

People are comparing the puny core city of Washington to the huge Russian capital.

Dmitry,

The rules with regard to propiska in Moscow and St. Petersburg do not differ in any significant respect from other cities. Moscow is not a closed city, as my friends from Canada (those with Russian citizenship and without) will surely tell you. And if you've been to Moscow's markets, you'd see proof of this with your own eyes.
Much regards.