Two senior leaders of Russia’s unofficial political opposition have made surprise appearances on separate political talk shows on the country’s tightly managed state-controlled television.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, a former Duma deputy and a leader of the unregistered Parnas opposition movement, appeared on state-owned Channel One at 10 p.m. Moscow time on January 26, while former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, also a Parnas leader, appeared an hour later on NTV, which is owned by the state-controlled Gazprom natural-gas monopoly.
Both programs were recorded in advance and edited, but they featured sharp criticism of Putin, who is running in the March 4 presidential election.
Nemtsov noted that it was the first time he has been invited to appear on Russian television in five years.
Compiled from agency reports
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