I agree they won’t have many clandestine cell systems, mostly because they quite simply don’t need them and actually creating them would be a symptom of paranoia (that said, they have no shortage of that). They might be harassed by security forces from time to time, but are certainly not cracked down in the systematic and brutal way a true authoritarian state would do it. Ironically, their failures at all these projects (cells, web brigades, etc) is perhaps the best evidence that Putvedev’s Russia is not the “bloody regime” of their vivid imaginations.

Good job of translation. I know that the post has been there quite a bit, still I thought you might be interested to know that, in fact, in this case the expression система “звездочки” is not about the asterisk key on the keypad of a mobile phone: just as described in that paragraph, it just means a separate group of people led by a manager. Ironically, this use of the term probably stems from the звездочки – groups in which the youngest students of Soviet schools were divided back in Soviet times – I remember being in one when I was in the first grade of the school. The idea was to teach children to support each other and compete with other groups, mainly in terms of academic performance and behaviour, sort of team spirit training. If a student of a group misconducted, the wohole group was to blame and the rest of the group was expected to influence the weak sister. The name звездочка was probably chosen as part of the Communist symobilics and normally included five students – as many as axes of a Communist star.
The liberasts must have adopted the name as remembrance of their childhood.
Anyway, whether my guess is correct or not, it would be hard to believe that the opposition would be able to set up a clandestine cell system.
I congratulate on your “command of the Russian colloquial word”, I wish I would be that proficient in English.

Alexey