David McDuff says: "Dan Rather reports on the increasing danger posed to the rest of the world by the Russian state (about 14 minutes into the show, in a segment lasting some 40 minutes). From the truly sickening scenes of violence and intimidation of civilians in a modern European capital city perpetrated by young Russian Nazis - scenes which recall historical archive footage of Kristallnacht - to the massive cyberattacks on the infrastructure and institutions of a neighbour, orchestrated by the Russian government itself, this televised report goes to the centre of a real and growing threat to global peace and security."



Robert Amsterdam offers viewers a peak behind the new iron curtain. CAUTION! Intense footage! Robert says it comes to him via "Lev Ponomarev, who when not writing for this blog or getting arrested during pro-democracy rallies, is one of Russia's leading defenders of the rights of prisoners. Lev and his organization, 'Foundation for the Defence of Prisoners,' only very recently obtained possession of a secret video made in 2006 by a prison guard of a 'Preventative Actions' exercise by the OMON (special police squad) performed at a prison camp in Yekaterinaburg. The appalling instances of beatings, torture, inhumane treatment and excessive and arbitrary violence shown in this recording inarguably represent a fundamental violation of human rights." Remember, Russians consider themselves to be living in an extraordinarily cultured, civilized society, entitled to look down their noses at the crude, barbaric USA.

Finally, Click here to watch more video (and read text) from a Russian expat reporter on the neo-Soviet crackdown, this time from the PBS "Frontline" program regarding police attacks on protesters in St. Petersburg.