Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is in the Chita pre-trial detention center, was placed in a punishment cell for 12 days. Lawyers for the former head of Yukos believe that the reason was his interview with Grigory Chkhartishvili (aka Boris Akunin), published in Esquire magazine.

In a televised address to the Ukrainian people on the evening of October 8, President Viktor Yushchenko announced that he was dissolving the Verkhovna Rada because he “had not received proposals from any political force to form a coalition majority.” “Parliamentary forces,” in his words, “have taken their work to a dead end,” so now early elections must be held. The current convocation of the Rada lasted less than a year. Elections are scheduled for December 7.

Before moving on to the next topic of my cycle, I would like to thank the forum participants. I did not expect, I repent, such a high level of understanding and discussion. I thought they would send me away with my general considerations and “highly scientific” theories. Thank you. We are going on. We will now discuss the consequences of corruption.

Russia ahead of schedule, that is, before October 10 - the date that President Medvedev recently spoke about - closed all six peacekeeping observation posts in the southern security zone around South Ossetia. In a few hours on October 8, peacekeepers moved from the “Georgian” part of Georgia to territory not recognized by anyone except Russia and Nicarauga, South Ossetia. The withdrawal of the peacekeepers was carried out under the supervision of the EU mission and took place without incident.

I think elections will take place, but the balance of power is not very clear. I believe that the influence of Yushchenko’s party will continue to decline and, most likely, it will have fewer seats. It is difficult to talk about the relationship between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko.

We must pay tribute to the ruling regime - it brings all its undertakings to completion. To the point of final and complete absurdity. This also applies to the construction of a system of party paddocks decorated for different ideologies. The next, but not the last, event in such party building was the project of uniting the parties SPS, “Civil Force” and the Democratic Party of Russia into a new party fold. As for the “Civil Force” and the DPR, their purpose was obvious in advance.

So, President Viktor Yushchenko once again dissolved the already dissolved Ukrainian parliament. Nothing unexpected happened. The plot of Ukrainian politics in recent weeks most closely resembled the well-known advertising script: “The day will come when I will tell you...”. But our move was exactly the opposite: what exactly President Yushchenko should say in a pre-recorded (as is now obvious) “address to the nation” was no secret.

Almost at the same time, the counterintelligence of the two countries - the Czech Republic and Ukraine - accused the Russian special services of trying to influence the public opinion of the local population. At first, the Czech Security Service BIS accused the SVR of organizing protests against the installation of elements of the American missile defense system on the territory of the country.

Something terrible is happening to the Russian markets. They fall and fall. Already fell below the baseboard, and, apparently, this is not the limit. Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev both explain what is happening on the Russian market, an American financial crisis. This is an amazing explanation, because all the last years Vladimir Putin denounced the American “Third Reich” and a single -sex world. He said that the world should be multipolar.