Medvedev Responds on Facebook

The Russian president vows to look into allegations of corruption in the parliamentary elections.

Accusing Putin and United Russia of election fraud and polling violations, Russians gathered in Moscow yesterday for the largest protest in the region since the 1990s. Tens of thousands of people demanded that the election be repeated with independent monitors. Today, President Dmitry Medvedev posted his first response to the calls on his Facebook page. Medvedev wrote that he ordered an “investigation” into the parliamentary elections and that he would check information from polling stations. Though the president said he did not agree with the accusations made by the protesters, he believed that people had the freedom to speak and assemble and that their actions were legal.