"If the Kremlin should not be held directly responsible for ordering murders against journalists, it certainly bears responsibility for the atmosphere of lawlessness that reigns in Russia. Today’s Kremlin doesn’t mind free and critical voices as long as they remain politically irrelevant and have no impact on decision-making. In other words, Russia has freedom of expression, but no press freedom if the latter is understood as one of the elements in an institutionalized democratic polity. Media may cover political news, but news can’t become a political event." (Abstract)