Putin, in the eye of storm over "poll violations", has conceded irregularities in the March 4 elections that secured him Russian presidency for a record third term.
Vladmir Putin, in the eye of storm over "poll violations", has conceded irregularities in the March 4 elections that secured him Russian presidency for a record third term, even as opposition today vowed to wage an indefinite campaign against the "skewed" vote.
"There were, of course, violations. We need to identify them all, weed them out and make everything clear to everyone," Ria Novosti news agency quoted Russian premier Putin as saying. It said Putin has called for a probe.
Meanwhile, Russian opposition vowed to wage an indefinite campaign against the vote, as the authorities launched a crack down on thousands of protesters who are challenging the legitimacy of the polls resoundingly won by Putin.
"Tens of thousands will be coming out on the streets of Moscow and other cities and refusing to leave," prominent protest leader Alexei Navalny told reporters after being released. "We will keep doing this until our demands are met."
Russian police have released about 250 opposition activists who were detained in Moscow after a rally against Putin's election victory. Navalny said the rallies would go on "until we win".
He and fellow protest leader Sergei Udaltsov face fines of up to 2,000 roubles (USD 68) for alleged public order offences, the BBC reported.
The 59-year-old ex-KGB spy and now the Prime Minister of Russian federation triumphed in the presidential election held Sunday with 63.6 per cent of the vote. After this win, Putin will be sworn in to serve for a record third term.
Putin was Russian president for eight years from 2000-2008. He then swapped offices with his close aide Dmirty Medvedev, who is the incumbent President.
Putin's closest challenger, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, got slightly more than 17 per cent, and the other three candidates -- including Mikhail Prokhorov, the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team -- were in the single digits. Putin was elected president for a third term on Sunday, in a vote that observers said was seriously flawed.
In St Petersburg about 300 opposition activists were arrested. It is not yet clear how many of them have been released. A crowd of up to 20,000 people rallied in Moscow's Pushkin Square last night and were addressed by Navalny and Udaltsov. The authorities had allowed the rally to go ahead.
Navalny said "swindlers and thieves" ruled Russia and only they, the protesters, could stop them.
"The use of force and detention of opposition politicians could have been avoided," defeated presidential candidate Mikhail Prokhorov said in a Twitter message yesterday.
"It was a peaceful rally. I am outraged by the use of force against people who came to express their views. Today's events at Pushkin Square broke the tradition of the recent peaceful protest rallies in the country."
Although many protesters left peacefully, riot police moved in later and arrested about 250. Police said those detained had tried to hold an indefinite rally.
Both Navalny - a prominent anti-corruption blogger - and Udaltsov have been arrested previously for their opposition activities. Prokhorov called on Russians "not to submit to provocations". International community have accepted that Putin won on Sunday but observers said the poll had been skewed in his favour.
Amid claims of widespread fraud in Sunday's presidential election, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) asked Russia to carry out an investigation.
"Conditions (for the campaign) were clearly skewed in favour of... Vladimir Putin" while the vote count was "assessed negatively in almost one-third of polling stations observed due to procedural irregularities," they said.
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