Attention to virtual space is growing in Russia. Russian politicians have an interest in the Internet: the president has his own blog and reads Twitter, and the United Russia Party is starting to work with the iPad on a mass scale. Opposition leaders and movements are not lagging behind either. Online surveys of various Internet resources are prevalent along with the data of mass sociological surveys. To anyone watching from abroad, the Internet may seem to be the last bastion of any free mass media in Russia. In the opinion of others, the Internet is "going to become the venue for the birth of new political leaders," or it might even lead to the emergence of a "new man" (as opposed, probably, to "Soviet man"). Research data on Internet use in Russia show that it is an increasingly important form of communication, information gathering, and social aggregation. But it is necessary to take into consideration the specific characteristics of Russian society before assuming that the implications for political life will be similar to those found in other countries. (Contains 21 tables and 20 notes.) [This article was translated by Kim Braithwaite.]