Putin is pretty desperate if he's trying to gin up sympathy for not being assassinated in his pliant press. David Satter predicts [pdf] a significant challenge to the Putin regime:
Russia now faces a momentous political crisis. The abuses of the Putin regime are so fundamental that, without profound change, the protest movement is unlikely to be stopped. Putin, however, is unlikely to agree to reforms that would threaten his hold on power. The stage is therefore set for a protracted conflict between Putin and the opposition that it likely to touch on each of the corrupt aspects of the present regime’s policies – the authoritarian political system, the corrupt and criminalized economy, the war in the North Caucasus and threat of terrorism, and finally the aggressive foreign policy that has put Russia at odds with the West and made it an object of resentment and fear on the part of the former Soviet republics and former Warsaw Pact members that are its closest neighbors.
(Photo: A sticker advertising a political protest is seen stuck on a billboard on February 27, 2012 in Moscow, Russia. Russians around the country are preparing to vote in Sunday's presidential elections, but many consider the result a foregone conclusion as it is expected that the current prime minister, Vladimir Putin, will gain the majority of votes and begin his third term as President. By Harry Engels/Getty Images)
The Dish 