alexey navalny has been released. it will be a long battle here. >> you are watching newsday live from singapore and london. a growing call for change causes a great turnout in the indian elections. >> the u.n. sets to preserve one of the natural wonders of the world. >> let's look at the stories making headlines. we start with obama reassuring netanyahu. he is trying to east tensions between iran and israel, but that they will prevent iran from making nuclear weapons. spain may be on a collision course with the financial -- as they fail to meet budget deficit targets. the "south china morning post" jiabao has led to an eight year low that will help them lower price pressures. clashes broke out in moscow after the presidential elections. >> this is "newsday" on the bbc. >> the headlines for you. people who fled the syrian city of homs have reported widespread atrocities. >> barack obama has met benjamin netanyahu at the white house to discuss concerns about iran. >> the cultural agency of the united nations has arrive

cesky is standing by so alexei what's the premier getting up to today the day after his win. well he is to be officially sworn in as the country's president only in two months now on the seventh of may that's when his integration integration will take place until then he will continue his work as prime minister and that will be certainly a lot of work we know that like him or putin has already met all of his rivals in this political in the presidential race except the communist party leader gennady zyuganov who claimed that the vote was illegitimate and refused to acknowledge the result of this election and meetings were given if we can at this. at this meeting with the always political rivals now we understand that if you're doing this meeting putin actually approved of mr prosser idea to launch his own political party and said that should this happen then his party the united party will definitely call parade with the new movement of mikhail prokhorov the russian billionaire it's also the newcomer to politics and a first time presidential candidate now is the ground of as i

we've got our own argues alexei or she was keeping his eye on the ballot for us how alexei. so how has the know there how's the turnout and so far. the turnout has been higher than during the previous presidential election four years back in two thousand and eight right now understand according to the central election commission in russia that the voter turnout is closing in on twenty percent some regions especially in the far east from fifty to seventy percent of the voter turnout so the russians are generally politically active and this time it's no exception they are voting in large numbers we already have received pictures of v.i.p. politicians placing their ballots placing their votes we know that president did if the acting president and his wife have already voted just as you know he's a god of justice story the russian prime minister vladimir putin and his main challenger the leader of the communist party tonight he got off they also have already placed their a ballot we are expecting that the polling stations will close at nine o'clock pm moscow time that's exactly

new president elect but what happens next we'll go live to money or square with our correspondent alexei or ships be standing by just outside the kremlin walls so what is putin getting set up to do now a day after his win. there is very little time to celebrate for the idea that we can celebrate his achievement his victory in the very first round of the presidential vote in russia we understand that he is indeed gratian when he will be officially sworn in as russia's president will take place on may the seventh in two months from now until then he will continue to work as prime minister and that seems to be rather a lot of work first things we did after celebrating his victory he met with all his political rivals. initiated this meeting with all the candidates he invited all of them to have a word with him in moscow all of them almost all of them turned up except for united to grant of his main rival the man who came second place with seventeen point two percent he believes this election was illegitimate he does not want to acknowledge the result the official result of this election and

i spoke with alexei navalny at his office in moscow. thank you for joining us.you were at a rally in st. petersburg and you said these are not elections, this is the reappointment of putin. what did you mean? >> (translated): literally it means what i said. this is not an election. this procedure is aimed at only one thing, the appointment of prime minister putin once again the president, seemingly for life. >> warner: for life? it's just a six-year term. >> (translated): putin has been in power since '99, from the moment when he was appointed acting prime minister by boris yeltsin. now, formally he's not the president but in fact he's a kind of czar, autocrat, unfortunately he can not imagine for himself another way of existence. all the ghosts of qaddafi are hauntinhim and he knows either he will be the president or something unfortunate will happen to him. >> warner: still, what does it say about russian society, do you think, that you've had this incredible opposition movement arise in, at least publicly, just three months. >> (translated): six months ago if

alexei how has the turnout been so far. well we can already say that the voting has lost its equates with some of the polling stations have already closed especially in the russian far east still continues in russia in school and all the cities in the same time zone as well as in the russia's most western point the city of kaliningrad we expect that the polling stations will be closed at nine pm most go time that's when we'll also receive the first exit poll results which will certainly deliver to our viewers now the turnout has already been reported higher at this stage than at this very same time back in two thousand and eight during the previous presidential election when to stand out there around thirty percent of the voters have already cast their ballots around the country now we also understand that all of the presidential candidates and all of the v.i.p.'s have already placed their votes as well which in the current prime minister has voted with his wife as well as he's main rival the man who is expected to challeng

so alexei how is the voting going so far and what are we hearing about the turnout server as i have to say. but we understand that the voter turnout has been already higher than at the very same moment four years ago during the previous presidential vote so we understand that more than one third of russians have already cast their ballots there have been reports certainly of some irregularities at the polling stations but when just down the massive presence of the independent observers there so the people have managed to sort out these irregularities at this sport so some regions of russia have reported a very high voter turnout up to seventy percent and this is certainly higher than the same sign four years ago old the. old presidential candidates have already crossed their ballots as well and we are just waiting when the polling stations close in about four hours from now and we'll be able certainly to bring you the latest i suppose results straight after nine o'clock pm mosco time and most of our casual viewers watching your putin's but certainly grabbing most of the headlines in th

so alexei although but one is in the bag for putin i guess the task now is to give attention to those who felt disaffected since december what is prudent planning to do if anything towards those members of the electorate. well that certainly will be a lot of hard work in that respect because we understand that still many people are unhappy with the result of this vote in fact the are planning huge opposition rally in the center of moscow to be held in about two hours from now certainly something we will be following closely and definitely the last three or four months have changed russia dramatically with tens of thousands of people hitting the street and also protesting online something unprecedented for this country ever since the collapse of the soviet union ever since the early nineteenth ninety's russia has changed something acknowledged by most of the experts and. does not mean that you can now relax and celebrate he still has a lot of hard work ahead of him and i earlier i spoke to a political writer from the commerce and daily newspaper who is firmly in believe that putin's ma

arrested some refused orders to disperse after the demonstration was due to end well it's now talk to alexey airships to for more about. well tell us more about what happened. well first of all this was not the biggest opposition rally we have seen in the last three or four months in russia but still from fourteen to twenty thousand people gathered it was because it's about two kilometers from where i'm standing right now in front of the kremlin and basic. the everyone in the crowd we had the feeling that they were they realize that. was it tory a stand w. had any doubt that he would win this election still they were there to protest against the prime minister with some opposition figures talking from the stage to the crowd including thirty placed candid in the presidential election of the russian tycoon who was also there to voice his opinion the rally was pretty peaceful until one of the opposition politicians demanded that she be he would stay at the square until putin resigned some of the people pulled him only several hundred people the rest were actually leaving the square and several

ventura kim his managerial debut tonight white sox cactus league opener against los angeles dodgers alexeicher nestor molina sox debut serving up a mammoth shot to the dodgers player dodger's scott van slyke to run home run and dan johnson homered for the white sox dropping spring opener 6-4. last year opening day starter ryan dempster the amount for chicago cubs against oakland athletics. one of his two strikeouts. blake dewitt trying to make the team not roster player 3-1 rocket to right field and the oakland athletics rallied from five runs down 8-7. congratulations northwestern john shurna all- time scoring leader named tonight first-team all big 10 michigan state draymond green player of the year chicago bears after wide receiver free agency said diego penn said jackson of billable charges elected not to use the franchise tag the cheifs did tag receiver dwayne bowe football season starts saturday in chicago or arena football season chicago rushed set to get started after a 13-4 campaign veteran quarterback leading the way vet qb russ michna took the rest of the conference semis last y

alexey navalny has now been released. it is going to be a long, drawn- out battle here. bbc news, moscow. >> votes are being counted for elections held in five states, including the largest state, where turnout was reported to be 60%, with 112 million voters. it is seen as a political bellwether for the next general election due in two years. the government has been under pressure over corruption and the economy. to tell us more about the election, our correspondent. when do we expect the initial results to be coming out? >> we have already got some initial trends. four other states have been voting. it is not looking good for the federal congress party. they are currently placed in fourth place. that is no improvement from their position earlier. they staked a lot in these elections. they put in some of their top leaders. at the moment, they're doing quite poorly in the state. in punjab, a state they were hoping to regain, once again, it looks like they're slipping. they are losing ground to the main opposition party, which has been in power for the last five years. if

i was was was was the bomber's alexei was hailed by many. as the beginning of a political phase radically different from that of the bush administration and in many ways it has been by the ever growing military budget the escalation of the war in afghanistan the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the us bases in iraq and the plans for a new military bases in a number of countries show how hard it is for this or any other president to challenge those policies that benefit the military industrial complex and perpetuate us hegemony over the rest of the world. the us must now choose when it best in the country's dwindling resources to strengthen social and democratic institutions or will it continue to fuel this parasitical complex that by definition can only produce new weapons and new wars. it ought to go with us that's my land over there judas hit him or. so not to kill i hope to get it back one day harder because they're. in the know nigga i do use the land school lots of white radish take on what we are don't want in us so that i could gro

meet alexei good can the man who became russia's most famous t.v. importer and. boy alder is going to tell me a little bit about his love for you hello genes our quantum guru earned the title of the t. capital of the russian empire thanks to the merchant aleksey group in his talent was responsible for the fact that t. was no longer an exotic about rich it was something accessible to all aleksey was dumped empty pioneer as discover all sorts of good games achievements transformed congo and as old as museum is devoted to his life and work it seemed only right to sample his wares well in this case i think we do need to have a copy of his honor so. you know what shall we do to get just printed that it is of course james let's go for it of course. just below the main exhibition hall is a replica of a nineteenth century russian tea house burned although the brew itself became more affordable incompetence time not everyone was able to have betty with all the trimmings. sugar was expensive so much so that ordinary people could not afford it. in that case they drank tea w

meet alexei good ken the man who became russia's most famous t.v. importer and. boy one of the god is going to tell me a little bit about his life. hello chains our cool air and the title of the t. capital of the russian empire thanks to the merchant can his talent was responsible for the fact that he was no longer an exotic a beverage it was something extra civil to walt aleksey was dumped. here and discover all sorts of. kim's achievements transformed and as old his museum is devoted to his life and work it seems only right to sample his wares well in this case i think we do need to have a cup in his honor so all go. to go can just go on and that is of course james let's go for it a bit of course there's a court. just below the main exhibition hall is a replica of a nineteenth century russian tea house burned although the brew itself became more affordable and good can style not everyone was able to have their tea with all the trimmings. sugar was expensive so much so that ordinary people could not afford it. in this case they drank tea all gazing at the sugar

needs alexei good came the moan who became russia's most famous t.v. importer and. only the legal older is going to tell me a little bit about his love champions league how no change what our corner guru earned the title of the t. capital of the russian empire thanks to the merchant aleksey. his talent was responsible for the fact that t. was no longer an exotic about rich it was something accessible to all alex he was dubbed a t. pioneer and just cover of sorts. the pins achievements transformed and as old as museum is devoted to his life and work it seemed only right to sample his wares well in this case i think we do need to have a copy of his honor so polgar. to google just know that it is of course james let's go get a grip of course there's a quarter. just below the main exhibition hall is a replica of the nineteenth century russian tea house burned although the brew itself became more affordable in collections time not everyone was able to have betty with all the trimmings. sugar was expensive so much so that ordinary people could not afford it. in this case

alexei to form an animal trainer musketeer the hippo on a very special relationship. where when we're apart for a while he misses me a lot i want to come back to him he screams with excitement and licks my hand so the kremlin palace now can't accept the celeb. challenge because in the brand new os a group called her names are coming up opens in february the shia and entirely new production featuring some five world class athletes an artists from fifteen countries the show has been designed especially just for the moscow venue here and radio city music hall in new york and space for more than five thousand spectators the company aims for over three hundred fifty thousand people to see this production in moscow grinnell's in schools by having a prominent showcase in the russian capital to. cover hassles play a large part of the performance lives here all the stunts tricks and acrobatics need to be maintained one hundred percent safety is the case now way in the rehearsal room as you can see if. and in fact all the stuff here russian no coincidence russia is in fact one

also drew one one on friday but alexei ion of made no mistake from the spot against his former side to open for a ban on the forty eight minutes midfielder posting his first goal for cabana after his move from zero eight in january tangle as of age equaliser dizzy from close range with about fifteen minutes to go one one missed how it stayed in st petersburg and it restoring the six point cushion at the top. before that nothing could separate twice from the champions through green and visiting lokomotiv moscow as the sides played out somewhat of a draw in case than the hosts came close to breaking the deadlock a couple of times but lockett's brazilian people. kept his goal intact for the second game in a row and danny. is long range effort for the visitors denied by the woodwork in the second half the teams remain level on points with rubin in six behind the railway man on goal difference. well at the other end of the table sandman rostov reclaim their tenth ball from tara the beat increase to get solved by the narrowest of margins to more collection of netting the only goal of the gam

their encounter against severus doubt following a three one hundred win closer nicholai jeff and alexei threats kaufman's it was raw in all its all the middle of the third period when branca rudeboy victory gained it lands late and he also put the school beyond any doubt with an empty net goal with twenty nine seconds to go. there was pressure on us to play a role in the last two games we lost so i think the pressure was on us but the whole game i think people were very well and. now we have one more game to clinch the series but it's going to be very tough and hopefully we can do it again to cause people now where in the n.b.a. process in celtic's have claimed their fifth straight win with a ninety seven ninety two home. three over houston rockets there was nothing to separate the teams after the fourth quarter as it finished eighty four meaning overtime was jumper from goal and drag it with three seconds to go levelling the schools for the rockets boston to pull passport seven of his game high thirty points after regulation time including this two point to with a foul to make it ninet

each were looking to break away after a title chaser say sky and also drew one one on friday but alexei enough made no mistake from the spots against his former side opened for combine and the forty minutes the midfielder posting his first goal for combine after his move from cities in january down colossus equalise four cities from close range with about fifteen minutes to go and a one all was out state in st petersburg city each restoring their six point push and that puts up. now before that nothing could separates weissbourd champions rubin and visiting local mitzi moscow as the sides played out the board draw in cousin the hosts came close to breaking the deadlock a couple of times but luck was brazilian keeper to get a man kept his goal in sacked for the second game on the balance and it is good for coughs so his long range effort for the visitors denied by the woodwork in the second half it's. things from a level on points with her will begin in six behind the railway men on goal difference. while at the other end of the table ten matter rostov reclaim their tenth spot from set a

it was a good experience for russia we also heard a lot of address the prominent opposition leader alexei laval need to be lawyer turned blogger an anti corruption activist saying that well as though but to be important supported all activities that would lead to fighting corruption in russia that people shouldn't use corruption as a political football seeing corruption in places where there wasn't any for the facts for their own personal political achievement so my eyebrows were raised when it was announced. yet it would be a small positions with list critique of the president just let me get this deputy the role of prime minister you know but anybody saying this was a decision that was taken based on the fact that the time but if we had a high approval rating it would have made more sense in their eyes to him to run as president now. did say if he is elected as president that he wouldn't move away from me the reforms the political reforms that need to be made good of his be putting in place throughout his his time in office now he said there would be a toughening of the political stance

term official results have given him almost sixty four percent of the vote that's turnout artie's alexei or shoves joining us live from out in moscow good to have you with us again so who has finished well ahead of his opponents show us the figures. it is matt it is official absolutely we have the new president elect like even if it has managed to gone almost forty sixty four sixty percent of the vote that is sixty three point six that is forty five million people voting for the current prime minister for him to be russia's next president he's the main rival the closest person in terms of percentage to putin is denied he's got of the leader of the communist party with seventeen point two percent as twelve million voters choosing him to be the russia's russia's next president. of the russian tycoon the newcomer to the political stage has seven point eight percent that is around five million people go to him the liberal democratic leader also a prominent complainer in russia and he said only one complaint ever since the collapse of the soviet union at six point two percent with four millio

the person who probably gamed the most out of this election campaign wasn't even standing it was alexei novelli and of course it's very controversial but we'll see what he comes up with tomorrow when he launches his protest and we'll see whether i just stay within the law it was my job to stay peaceful but i think that he's gained an awful lot of support and i think he has his eye possibly on the next election campaign politics as well i mean that position well i actually i prefer to hear your opinion do you do you will i ask clearly do you believe that an internet creation like alex a no one is who is against he's not first so he is against he's always he doesn't trust these against then well he's a lot like one hundred percent hundred percent computer computer virtual like person. but on like he is popular or like do you think that he made make a cabinet for the next political political action like four years ago in the koreas . year i believe so you think he has a good chances to become a politician the real policies and declaring not just that he is against but his positive program

national challenges still ahead compounded by a public more politically cute than ever before he's alexey going to ski ripples. it was one and motional night for that approach and yes i did promise you we would win. i. only have one. but you know the prime minister may have justified his cheers by the strong wind but no one would be surprised if it was caused by the joy of victory. it was hardly a shock as putin had been the elections clear front runner but eventually result of almost sixty four percent stunned even those at the helm who would never think of such a high result so it's even higher than we predicted for ourselves and he shows once again actually proves that putin is a political figure number one of these countries and his potential is yet to is yet to be open toes are there but it's no time to party now many experts believe putin's real challenge in fact starts now. this will be sort of a battle between the two out parity of course of all of that state irrelevant here and developments creditors for myself identify the first concept as putting land they want russian politica

will know soon enough as i said the polling stations are closing in just two hours from now finally alexei most eyes are on the front runner vladimir putin of course but for other candidates in the running against him one of their chances as head of today and what happens if they capture a large percentage of the vote. it is widely believed and a nobody has any illusions about the fact that lenin put in will win this election definitely he's the front runner despite having his support diminished by almost two fold as. something suggest that anyway he is the front runner if you will when it's the question is how he will win it in order to get a straight victory he must get fifty percent of the votes plus one vote and that will give him a straight victory in the first round if he gets less than that then he will have a second round runoff to be held on march twenty fifth in exactly three weeks from now and now of course all the political analysts and everyone in the country speculating who could become the potential challenges for him if we can in this potential second round runoff with the

the sinking of the republican elite had a lot more to say as well you can watch the interview with alexei pushkov in the next full version available to you on our website streaming right now and. also coming your way shortly on the program tonight silencing the whistle. weekly wiki leaks we keep makes wiki leaks well the latest washington prepared to go to to prosecute the bulls most famous whistleblower julian assange. next the peace envoy kofi annan says the syrian government has accepted his plan to hold the country's bloodshed his proposals include a mutual cease fire and political dialogue artie's middle east correspondent paula slee is the latest. the fact that announces that damascus has accepted it is certainly a positive step and the plan includes the withdrawal of troops as well as heavy weaponry from population centers the opening of political dialogue between all sides and access to humanitarian groups that needs to go ahead and impeded but it is important to say that for this plan to work it insists that the fighting stops immediately that both sides lay down weapons and that

authorities who wants to launch his own political movement on the other hand we have the likes of alexey nobody who openly openly supports escalating call thing and says that the protests in russia must mounds now my colleague between the gretsch over did a report on how the presence of russian opposition looks like and let's have a look at this report. you might think there are two types of post-election rallies those by the wiener and less jubilant ones by the defeated opposition but if you look closely at russia's political scene these days you see how sharp the opposition itself was split into two ranks. the vertical of power in our country develops well within the civil society initiated from below concrete those on top and there's no political competition here's the official opposition defeated candidates meeting with the winner his residence the morning after the vote criticizing the kremlin and here's what may seem similar but in fact a very different rattray from the unofficial street opposition. who are. growing their own words. unlike the newly risen political star drunk or of

to descend on kiev are known preparations to accommodate them are near completion but as artie's alexei airshows reports those coming for the beautiful game could be in for an ugly surprise. i felt the earth with the view of twenty twelve football championship has not even begun in ukraine but this key of pensioner is already in high spirits here you. know not a believes this summer storm and is her last real chance to earn some money since in the us is that our pensions are next to nothing our days are numbered and want to see them off in style and earn a little money that's why we will let a room or a flat to football fans will start at fifty dollars a night depending on who stays here but the price could go higher. so via design and lack of necessary amenities like air conditioning but camara is being fairly reasonable about the price she would charge for it but the greed of many other private landlords could prove costly for ukraine if you prefer to travel in comfort like renting this mordantly designed and fully equipped wired be prepared to pay a fortune like it across a new this

moscow after winning around sixty four percent of the vote with the most palates counted so artie's alexei airshows ski. looks set to have one of the sights of victory for the figures at the moment that. well as it stands with almost ninety nine percent of the votes haven't been counted so far we understand that. has about sixty three point eight percent of the votes with the closest rival to him is the nineties you got of the communist party leader with a little more than seventeen percent also the russian tycoon mikhail prokhorov the newcomer to russian politics the first time presidential candidate stands at seven point eight percent and the other two candidates the liberal democratic party leader. at six point two and russia party leaders there gave it all of that three point eight so definitely such a large margin between putin and zyuganov certainly means that putin will win in the very first round of the presidential vote certainly something a little bit unexpected but nevertheless putin has been a clear favorite in this race it was only a matter of whether there would be a second r

every ballot box under the watchful eye of webcams which anyone can view with streaming video artie's alexei or ships he live for us in moscow keeping an eye on the vote for us here on r t so how's it been going what's the turnout like and already observers satisfied. well we can now say that the election has tossed its equator with only just five hours remaining until polling stations close across the country and it will happen at about nine pm mosco time and that's exactly when we will receive the first exit poll results which we will certainly voice to our viewers everywhere across the globe now we understand that the voter turnout at this particular time is higher than at the same time four years ago during the previous presidential election in two thousand and eight and we understand that around thirty two percent of all just have already cast their ballots across russia the v.i.p.'s of the political elite have already and against of course the presidential candidates have already cost their ballots as well we know that the prime minister but even if we can and his wife have been at the

one around sixty four percent of the vote with an official declaration later but it's now two artes alexei a share scheme on this so let's see what putin is well ahead of his appearance in one of the latest figures we have. the latest we've heard so far with around ninety nine point two percent of the votes haven't been counted already as it stands seems that russia's prime minister looks set to become the country's president for a third spell now we understand that putin at the moment has sixty three point seven percent with the closest rival the leader of the communist party tonight is gonna be a man who has been having a second place in every single presidential election russia he has participated in at seventeen point two percent so that's almost a fifty percent gap between them then we have a proper of the russian take all the you can or through to the politics the first time presidential candidate at seven point eight percent the head of the leader liberal democratic party. also the ever present candidate in russian elections at six point two percent and last but not least we have to

unlike the newly risen political star mihail proctor of activist and blogger alexei now bali hasn't spent two and a half million dollars on his compay and he never ran for presidency but thanks to his active bloc and the massive coverage of his calls for a revolution by the western and russian media he rose to an unofficial opposition leader almost overnight in the heart of my gun and. i think. the activists from the street opposition condemned sunday's ballot even before the first vote was cost these presidential elections illegitimate and the person who comes to power whoever it is even if it's not will be illegitimate in any case. to rogers stood for a venue to rally the opposition ended up fighting it out between each other in city hall for a group of. one they might have had russia's most liberals where in the center of moscow to protest but the question still very much alive is does the news straight up position know how to square this circle the march fifth rally for liberal values to the test to what extent will they be of a the law. this will police are saying we must go but i ca

well earlier i spoke to alexei pushkov he's in charge of foreign affairs issues in russia's lower house of parliament he says a cold war attitude to moscow the put american republicans minds. i think that this logic of the cold war that the united states is first facing a lot of foods a lot of enemies in the world is still very much present in the sinking of the republican elite drolly still seem to be one of the moderate republicans that if a moderate republicans say sings like this that russia is any number one we can only imagine what a real conservative republican would say discourse this was an exchange which is quite understandable when there is an issue between russia and the united states and there's the a.b.m. issue so basically what about who is saying that if we are to solve the a.b.m. issue it will be easier to do after the elections when the questions are when she has a new mandate and when she will not be criticised every day of every week by republican contenders so i think maybe it was a little bit careful but it was quite understandable and i don't see that there is any

one fence alone afterwards he was seen to have a heated exchange with his coach former pentathlete alexei kaplan of or whatever was said it did seem to spur the thing on and it combined running and shooting he opened up a sizable lead and cruised home for victory ahead of compact korea back in and got second and russia's fences had been using the moscow saber event to help prepare for the london games they failed to pick up a clean sweep of medals though after losing to china in the team and then to russia had won the men's and women's individual events on saturday and playing with an appointed plane with a team medal as well but it was the chinese he felt that decisive blow squeeze in to victory forty five points to forty four they claim silver in the team saber event at the last olympics and are planes about four months ahead of the london games this summer. but i'm very happy and excited it's the first time we've won a tournament in two years so it's a good room and i really enjoyed the competition hopefully i can put in an even better performance in london. i mean the n.b.a. gulf wher

russia now concerning meet the opposition themselves but in particular one prominent opposition member alexey novelli the former lawyer turned anti corruption blogger. to be uprooted said that fighting corruption in russia was a key task something that must be carried out how of a did say that it's something that shouldn't be used as a political football and certainly is something that shouldn't be used for the the personal political gain of an individual addressing the opposition or as a group. critical of what he sees is really them picking at issues and being critical of issues without being able to come up with a solution or any kind of realistic and solution to the problems that they've addressed and basically just stay on the sidelines say well that's a problem that's a problem that's a problem we don't know how to fix them. portman's relations with brendon to be aired has all. long been the focus of attention russia and abroad and we all have prime minister said something about that was it peter. well this is the decision that was taken last year by putin made good of to essentially tr

of the tandem it becomes a try cicle being groomed here somebody who perhaps in the same way that alexei kudrin had offered to do unsuccessfully could reach out to the opposition because he does have a slightly more appealing resume yeah you might say for liberals for professionals the big problem here for profit as a popular politician that is as a population of houses you actually have to appeal to the popular vote is that he is still seen as a product of one of the least popular areas in recent russian history and that's the cowboy capitalism of the one nine hundred ninety s. you know the fact is proper of would not be a billionaire if it were not for the loans for shares scandal as most russians see it and you know guys like i watched a debate between last year and proper road and sure enough he is not bashful about reminding russians who this guy is so i think there's a real limit on how successful proffer of can be. kevin again it's difficult to argue. to argue against the fight but a lot has changed in russia this improves things for the first him back out in two thousand though t

alleged sweetheart deals for putin's friends and family have been exposed by bloggers like activist alexei navalny. veteran putin opponents use older-style methods to publicize what they say is a deep and pervasive rot. >> many people understood that he's working not so much on russia as much more on his personal wealth and his personal good life. >> warner: independent parliamentarian vladimir ryzhkov was muscled out of politics after putin ascended. >> putin is not reformist, he's a reactionary. he tries keep same corruption status quo in russia; we want real system reforms. >> warner: systemic reform of corruption can't come under putin, believes analyst masha lipman of the carnegie moscow center. >> corruption in russia is not, if i may, a malignant tumor, on an otherwise healthy body that can be severed, and then body can live and develop. it's actually the very texture of the russian governance. people who close to putin, who constitute his elite, can expect, can rely on the government cover-up if they do something unlawful. >> warner: among the victims of that corruption, young prof