Russia’s state-sponsored media is largely ignoring the leaked cables, while more independent online and newspaper media sources have been discussing them more actively. As Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty argues, most Russians are already “well aware of rampant corruption among their country’s ruling elite” and may be unfazed by the revelations.

But the ruling elite itself is clearly irked. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the United States had acted “with arrogance, rudeness, and unethically,” and his political party, United Russia, released a statement late on Thursday complaining that corruption is a problem in every country and Russia was being unfairly stereotyped. “This can only be done with one goal: to prevent Russia and its foreign partners from entering a new level of cooperation. Such a policy is, at a minimum, unwise and unmeasured,” read the statement.

The number of allegations, analyses, and observations in these materials is already so vast as to easily overwhelm the reader. Given that only 608 of the total 250,000+ leaked cables have been released so far, this is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Below is a set of summaries of some of the most scathing articles on Russia and the cables.

WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as ‘mafia state’
The Guardian
A rundown of several leaked cables that label Russia as a “corrupt, autocratic kleptocracy” that is “using [the] mafia for its dirty work” and where law enforcement agencies “operate a de facto protection racket for criminal networks.” Years of investigations by a Spanish prosecutor back the allegations.

Additionally, Prime Minister Putin is accused of hiding “secret wealth” in overseas accounts.

Dmitry Medvedev ‘plays Robin to Putin’s Batman’
The Guardian
Jokes about this comparison have already fully permeated the global news media. But, as this article describes, the entirety of what was said in this cable paints a more complex picture of the rulers’ relationship. That idea that Putin and Medvedev are akin to Batman and Robin was only one of three camps adhered to by US diplomats’ Russian contacts. The other two sides argued that Medvedev was either slowly gaining power or was no different than Putin.

In an interesting side note, US officials argued that “gullible Europeans and Americans who believed Medvedev was more enlightened than Putin were probably fooling themselves.”

Questioning Putin’s Work Ethic
via the New York Times
Former US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle contends that Putin resents his workload as prime minister and has taken to “working from home.” In light of his frequent absence from the Russian White House, the bulk of ministerial duties have been left to First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. This lead to delays in project implementation because “the Russian system was geared to top-down decisions and paralysis was often the result of Putin’s inaction.”

Alexander Litvinenko murder ‘probably had Putin’s OK’
The Guardian
Daniel Fried, the former top US diplomat in Europe, questioned in one cable “whether rogue security elements could operate, in the UK no less, without Putin’s knowledge,” and “described the Russians as increasingly self-confident, to the point of arrogance.” The article also cites additional evidence of Russian governmental involvement in the murder.

In response to the revelations, Litvinenko’s widow, Marina Litvinenko, summed up a common sentiment regarding the cables in general: “For years we have been trying to get the authorities in the west to view my husband’s murder as a state-sponsored crime. Now it appears they knew it all along.”

Moscow mayor presided over ‘pyramid of corruption’
The Guardian
Ambassador Beyrle describes Moscow under recently fired Mayor Yury Luzhkov. That city, he says, constituted “a system in which it appears that almost everyone at every level is involved in some form of corruption or criminal behaviour.” In his frank assessment of “Moscow’s criminal world,” Beyrle states: “Luzhkov is at the top. The FSB, MVD [security services and police – ed.] and militia are at the second level. Finally ordinary criminals and corrupt inspectors are at the lowest level.”

The ambassador’s sources disagreed whether city officials paid off top Kremlin insiders with suitcases “full of money” or “via a secret account in Cyprus.”

According to the Guardian, Beyrle’s description of corruption in the Russian government and security agencies “offers the most detailed and apparently authoritative account so far.” The newspaper notes that the Kremlin will likely be embarrassed by the allegations, given President Medvedev’s stated attempts to thwart corruption.

Another cable details Luzhkov’s use of the city budget to both line his own pockets and finance “his nationalist foreign policy agenda.”

Russian move to airbrush Stalin ‘too half-hearted’
The Guardian
Attempts by the Kremlin to whitewash dictator Joseph Stalin’s bloody reputation were not strong enough to constitute a real threat to academic freedom in Russia, and were mostly made for political ends, says the US embassy in Moscow. At the same time, leaked sources cite disturbing tactics to this end, including by ordering professors to turn in students who expressed “concepts damaging to Russia’s interests.” It also includes accusations that the Kremlin pays bloggers to influence online debates over Soviet-era human rights abuses.

Litvinenko, a former KGB officer and vocal critic of former Russian President Vladimir Putin, was poisoned with a radioactive substance in London in 2006. One high-ranking official said he had “very strong indications it was a state action.”

British investigators have complained that Russian authorities have not been cooperative. Citing a law barring extradition for its citizens, Russia has refused to hand over Andrei Lugovoi, another former KGB officer suspected by UK authorities of the murder. Lugovoi maintains his innocence.

MI5 officers also said they had averted an assassination attempt against Boris Berezovsky, a wealthy Russian oligarch living in exile in London. Russia has previously tried to extradite Berezovsky, a vocal Putin critic charged with fraud and political corruption.

Relations between the UK and Russia reached post Cold-war lows after the Litvinenko murder, and have remained rocky ever since. The Times newspaper reported on July 4th that British security services see Russia as the third most serious threat facing the country, after Iran and Al-Qaeda.

Other officials told the Telegraph newspaper that that Russia’s spy efforts in the country have taken resources away from fighting terrorism.

“MI5’s resources have been stretched to the limit for the past few years,” one source said. “There have been times when there was nothing left in the locker, when all of our assets were being used on one operation.”

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev are currently meeting at talks of the Group of 8 in Japan.

Surprisingly enough, Lugovoi seems not to have questioned why Russians were so eager to get his autograph. Were they showing solidarity with a victim unjustly hounded by the Crown Prosecution Service?

Give me a break! When did Russians ever ask victims for their autographs? I have myself been attracting the interest of the Prosecutor General’s Office for several months now and have yet to encounter a single autograph hunter. In Russia, you get asked for your autograph if you have made it, if you are a proper hero — a hockey player, a cosmonaut or a war hero.

The list of unspeakable crimes allegedly committed in the course of Alexander Litvinenko’s brief life grows longer every day. The animosity toward Litvinenko among self-righteous Russian patriots has reached a very high level; they relish the fact that this traitor received such a severe form of punishment as payback for his sedition. Of course, this should not be interpreted to mean that these patriots agree with the Crown Prosecutor Service’s official accusations of who stands behind the Litvinenko killing.

A new species of “homo putinicus” has been created in large part thanks to the meticulously professional work of the television propaganda machine. Consequently, homo putinicus feels a great sense of pride in Lugovoi’s achievements. . . .

If we compare two potential presidential candidates, Lugovoi in 2007 and Putin in 1999, the number of obvious similarities is astounding: the same modest social background; the same KGB alma mater; a similar style of speaking, which at times includes the use of criminal jargon; the same mentality; and the same hatred toward “enemies of the people.”

In addition, there is another, highly significant shared circumstance: Both of them at the start of their political careers were largely indebted — perhaps even totally indebted — to Boris Berezovsky. Moreover, both Lugovoi and Putin subsequently had serious fallouts with Berezovsky.

Would the sybaritic, globe-trotting Lugovoi really want to take over the reins and put on Monomakh’s Cap? After all, the job of president is very difficult and exhausting. Look at how Putin’s face changed over the course of the last eight years as president. Lugovoi’s face has also changed markedly during the last eight months of news conferences.

Whatever the case may be, Lugovoi and Putin are two living portraits of Dorian Gray — two faces of the new Russia that is “getting off its knees.”

The problem with this kind of criminal case is that dictators are able to exploit it to condemn foreign interference, imagined or otherwise. That’s exactly what happened under the rule of South Korea’s President Park Chung Hee in the summer of 1973, when KCIA agents kidnapped the opposition leader, Kim Dae Jung, from a Tokyo hotel. Park first blamed North Korean agents for the kidnapping, then criticized Japan’s colonial mentality for demanding his repatriation. In the end, that never happened, until Park’s own killing by his top intelligence officer years later. He knew Japanese politicians could be coaxed into signing a wish-washy deal that would allow him to get off the hook.

Park used Japan’s pressure for Kim’s repatriation to close ranks at home, mobilizing the country to greater unity behind his embattled regime. Liberal oppositionists were denounced as foreign agents, just as Russian dissident and chess player Kasparov is today harassed and called an agent of foreign interests. Putin himself is successfully unifying the post-Soviet Russia by showcasing his “strong leadership,” which the Russian populace, long tired of chaos and deprivation from the post-totalitarian interregnum, welcomes. Putin is giving Russians, especially the young, a cause to unite behind the government against foreign interference. Using the foreign bogey to maintain domestic unity is old trick of many dictatorships.

As we are learning, talking about a strong Russia is very different from creating a strong Russia. Our idea of a strong nation is one that has strong democratic and legal institutions, a broad-based economy, and the respect — not fear — of other nations. That some foreign nations share this idea for Russia is not interference. If they wish to stand up for their core beliefs they can do no other.

We see that at last someone is reacting to Putin’s disregard for the rule of law. This disregard is symbolic of a regime that has done nothing but work against the interests of law and human rights both domestically and internationally. The world’s first proven case of nuclear terrorism is being blocked by the Kremlin, just as it has delayed or blocked the investigations into domestic terror cases and the murders of a dozen journalists.

As tragic and frightening as the Litvinenko case is, it’s only a drop in the bucket. Nobody wants a new Cold War, but ignoring reality and letting the Kremlin get away with murder — literally in this case — will allow things to get worse. Those who worry that strong actions will antagonize Putin and make relations worse, we ask what could be worse? What positives has appeasement achieved? Blair, Chirac, Berlusconi, Schroeder, and Bush watched quietly as Putin crushed civil liberties in Russia and bullied its neighbors. At times they practically applauded. Now this new generation of European leaders needs to decide what they stand for, or if they will stand up at all.

It’s also clear that Britain recognizes what a travesty the justice system is in Russia today. There’s no such thing as a fair trial under the Putin regime, as our leaders and activist can attest. Just last week a prominent Russian defense lawyer, Boris Kuznetsov, fled the country after the state opened an investigation against him. Most of the judiciary is under direct Kremlin control. We of the Other Russia are doing our best to apply domestic pressure in the streets, the only avenue we have thanks to state control of the media. We hope Britain is not going to take the assassination of one of its citizens with resignation. Especially when you consider the method and how it could have led to countless more deaths.