Vladimir Putin has won Russia’s presidential election, according to exit polls.

Monitored by web cameras and a network of volunteer civilian observers, Russians voted today in presidential elections expected to return Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin.

Vladimir Putin appears all but certain to return to the Kremlin in tomorrow’s Russian presidential election, but he will find himself in charge of a country far more willing to challenge him.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has defended his decision not to seek a second term, saying that the nation likes Vladimir Putin more.

Thousands of protesters rallied across Russia today to criticise the government’s economic course and its response to the global financial crisis.

The Russian parliament today tentatively backed constitutional changes that would extend the presidential term from four to six years.

The Russian parliament today tentatively backed constitutional changes that would extend the presidential term from four to six years.

DMITRY MEDVEDEV has won Russia’s presidential election with more than 70% of the vote, according to final results released yesterday.

Dmitry Medvedev won a landslide victory in the election to replace his patron Vladimir Putin as Russia’s president, promising to continue on Mr Putin’s path and to appoint him prime minister.

Vladimir Putin’s handpicked successor Dmitry Medvedev was headed for an easy victory in today’s presidential election, according to an exit poll and early partial results.

Russian voters were expected to endorse Vladimir Putin’s choice of a successor in today’s presidential election, allowing Mr Putin to retain a measure of power in his nation whose wealth and global voice have grown even as democratic freedoms diminished.

Voting has begun today in Russia's presidential election that will produce a successor to Vladimir Putin.

The most vocal Kremlin critic in Russia’s presidential contest was barred from the ballot today by election authorities who said tens of thousands of signatures on his nominating petitions were faked.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met the Belorussian leader tonight, starting a visit that was closely watched for signs the two ex-Soviet neighbours were advancing towards a long-discussed merger.

Vladimir Putin’s party won a crushing victory in Russia’s parliamentary elections, paving the way for the leader to remain in control even after he steps down as president.

Russian president Vladimir Putin’s party was on course for a landslide victory tonight as early results showed they had clinched more than 60% of the vote.

Russians complained today about being pressured to vote, with some saying their ballots were already filled out for President Vladimir Putin’s party and others reporting cash bribes, election watchdogs said.

Russia’s parliament overwhelmingly approved Viktor Zubkov as prime minister today, and President Vladimir Putin said he was among at least five people who could hope to succeed him next year.

Russia’s lower house of parliament was today set to vote on President Vladimir Putin’s nominee for prime minister, with confirmation assured in the Kremlin-controlled chamber.

A senior official in Serbia’s Socialist Party said today that none of Slobodan Milosevic’s Moscow-based family will attend his funeral tomorrow, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

A top Russian Orthodox official today said the country’s dominant church believed the body of Bolshevik Revolution leader Vladimir Lenin should be removed from display in a Red Square mausoleum and buried.

Russian Communist Party chief Gennady Zyuganov today became the first prominent politician to throw his hat in the ring for the 2008 presidential election, a poll in which President Vladimir Putin is constitutionally barred from running.

Russia’s Communist Party leader laid flowers at Josef Stalin’s grave outside the Kremlin today, leading several hundred mostly elderly Russians who gathered in Red Square to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Soviet dictator’s death, reports said.

Brushing off US criticism of a one-sided election campaign, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed victory early today after voters handed him an expected landslide win for a second four-year term.

Allies of President Vladimir Putin won a sweeping victory in Russia’s elections today but European human rights officials condemned the poll as having fallen short of international legal requirements and representing a retreat from democratic reforms.

The biggest pro-Kremlin party is set to dominate the Russian legislature after parliamentary elections tightened President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power.

WHAT do a priest, Miss Germany, a spiritual healer and a diehard communist all have in common?

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Catholic Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy-O’Connor today issued a joint statement expressing doubts about the “moral legitimacy” of a war on Iraq and calling for a continuation of weapons inspections.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has declared that Baghdad wants peace – but not at the price of its dignity and independence.

SADDAM HUSSEIN yesterday declared Iraq wants peace — but not at the price of its dignity and independence.

Russia’s Communist Party chief today launched his harshest attack against President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of betraying the country to the West, ruining the national economy and driving people to poverty.

Slobodan Milosevic today vowed to fight the Nato ‘‘machine’’ and said he had no regrets about his past.