Russian officials "helped stage" pro-Putin rallies
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Russian officials have helped organize a  wave of rallies calling for Vladimir Putin to stay on as  president after his second term ends next year, according to  two documents obtained by Reuters on Monday.
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MOSCOW, Dec. 16 -- Russian authorities pulled hundreds of opposition activists off buses and trains and detained them along with scores of others on Saturday ahead of a rare anti-government rally in Moscow, organizers said.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin, who openly backed Viktor Yushchenko's rival for president of the Ukraine, said Tuesday he could work with an administration headed by the pro-Western candidate.
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Thousands of poor Russians demonstrated across Russia on Saturday as part of a campaign of protest against abolition of some benefits that has dented President Vladimir Putin's popularity.
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Russia's most vocal opposition movement, headed by former chess champion Garry Kasparov, demonstrated in a major city on Saturday without police violence or interference for the first time in months of protests.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is defending his government&#39;s efforts to strengthen and centralize control in the wake of several recent terrorist attacks.
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A protest in Moscow led by chess champion Garry Kasparov and other critics of President Vladimir Putin ended peacefully Monday in marked contrast to their last demonstration in the capital which culminated in beatings and arrests.
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Violent street clashes usher in a year of elections and call into question the claim that eight years of Putin rule has created stability in Russia
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As if to build a tragedy upon a tragedy, Russian President Vladimir Putin has moved to recentralize political power in Moscow in the wake of several terrorist attacks.
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Dozens of leftist activists were   arrested near Moscow's Kremlin on Monday after they forced   their way into the finance ministry to protest against   government policies, witnesses said.
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Russia's political elite has been showing a striking willingness to take sides in the U.S. election &#151; most notably President Vladimir Putin, whose expression of support for President Bush reflects more than the two leaders' warm relationship.
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VLADIMIR Putin, the Russian president, was accused yesterday of exploiting the fight against terrorism to strengthen his already iron grip on power.
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BESLAN, Russia - Russians rallied against terrorism Tuesday in response to a hostage-taking that claimed more than 350 lives, and President Vladimir Putin denied a link between Russia's policies in Chechnya and the standoff in this southern city.    In an interview late Monday with foreign journalists and academics, Putin again rejected Western calls for negotiations with Chechen rebel representatives, Britain's Guardian daily reported...
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MOSCOW -- Demonstrations across Russia posed a major challenge to President Vladimir Putin yesterday, as authorities bowed to the demands of protesting retirees by restoring some state benefits, such as free public transportation and subsidized medicine.
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Hundreds of people took to the streets of Beslan on Wednesday to vent anger at Russian President Vladmimir Putin and demand the resignation of regional
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MOSCOW - Tens of thousands of demonstrators waving banners and flags gathered in Red Square in a show of unity against terrorism as the country mourned the hundreds of victims of a hostage-taking at a school in southern Russia.    More than 100,000 people were expected to take part in the evening rally in the capital, organized by a pro-government trade union and advertised on state-controlled television by celebrities who appealed to citizens to turn out to say no to terror...
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Some Russians celebrated their military's tradition of dedication Friday while others protested its recent history of corruption and brutality in separate events marking the annual Defenders of the Fatherland holiday.