I should probably write a separate post after all—I didn’t expect it to turn into such a scandal. Kommersant removed the article I linked to this morning. Demyan Kudryavtsev, head of the Kommersant publishing house, issued a special statement on the matter: A**DMITTING MISTAKES **T*oday, the article “Pipeline Wastewater” was published in a supplement to the newspaper Kommersant. The piece contained a number of factual errors, but more importantly, it was written in an unacceptable “Soviet” tone, using propagandistic language and tendentious distortions. I hope the reason this material appeared was the author’s genuine desire to understand the subject, without succumbing to the charm of “internet authority” Alexei Navalny, rather than corruption or political bias—but for the reader, the result is what matters. And I am ashamed of it. I apologize to our readers and to Mr. Navalny, who will be given an opportunity to respond to this publication in one of the next thematic supplements of Kommersant. The piece has been removed from the kommersant.ru website. We are ending our cooperation with this freelance author, and the supplement’s editor has been subjected to disciplinary action. Kommersant supports the idea of public oversight over the spending of budget funds and the money of state corporations. The press itself is one of the instruments of such oversight, and Kommersant has proven this many times. For us, there are no “untouchables”—not in business, not in government, and not in the opposition. But accuracy, impartiality, and a professional journalistic approach are our top priority. And mistakes do happen. They must be acknowledged and corrected. Demyan Kudryavtsev P.S. People are asking me in the comments why we removed the article from the site. Wouldn’t it have been more honest, they say, to leave it up so readers could form their own opinion of its contents? Or “as a lesson.” I have always believed that what is spoiled, broken, or rotten should be thrown out and not kept in the house. Anyone who wants to can still find the text in the trash heap—in search engine caches or on the blogs of our ill-wishers :) * From here Well, I understand perfectly well how difficult and unpleasant it is for a big and prestigious newspaper like Kommersant to publish this kind of retraction and apology. That is one reason why I very much appreciate the actions of Kommersant in general, and Kudryavtsev in particular, in this situation. All’s well that ends well.