It started with an innocuous call by the Central Bank to choose the design of Russia’s new 500-ruble (about $5) note dedicated to the North Caucasus Federal District. It ended in a spat between Chechen officials and pro-war bloggers, accusations of rupturing national unity and even claims of foreign meddling. And then there were all the memes. Russia’s Central Bank said late Sunday that it was canceling the vote after it reported “numerous attempts” to artificially inflate votes for certain images, while facing accusations of manipulating the res
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