Putin Warns Russia's Opposition ahead of Election

Vladimir Putin on Wednesday accused the Russian opposition of preparing dirty tricks to discredit this weekend's presidential poll, saying they would have to respect the view of the majority in the vote.

Putin attacked Russia's nascent protest movement with characteristic venom in a display of confidence ahead of Sunday's poll which he is expected to win to claim a third term in the Kremlin after his stint as premier.

He alleged that activists were planning to stuff ballots themselves in a deliberate ploy to delegitimize the vote. Allegations of vote-rigging sparked mass protests against his rule after December 4 parliamentary election.

"The main rule is to respect the view of the minority, but to submit to the opinion of the majority," Putin said at a meeting with supporters in Moscow at the vast Manzeh exhibition center just outside the Kremlin walls.

"People who talk about the need to strengthen democratic institutions must themselves obey these rules. The minority must not impose its will on the majority," he said, standing presidential-style at a podium.

Opinion polls have predicted that Putin should win in the first round with up to 60 percent of the vote but the opposition has complained that the election has been skewed in his favor from the start.

Putin expressed fury at the opposition for declaring the election "illegitimate in advance" and said the authorities had proof that dirty tricks were being prepared.

"They are getting ready to use some kind of mechanisms which would confirm that the elections have been falsified. They will stuff ballots themselves, monitor this and then report on it," he said.

"These instruments are unacceptable and harmful to democratic society. We have grounds to believe that our opponents are preparing such actions. We can present the proof."

His comments also appeared to be an icy warning to independent vote monitors who alleged mass rigging in December's legislative elections and who Putin accused at the time of being agents in the pay of the West.

Top Russian officials and the state media have since Tuesday been waging an apparent concerted campaign to cast early doubts on any future allegations of ballot fraud that may lead to post-election protests.

Several members of the opposition have already denounced the vote as illegitimate because it excluded all their leaders and have vowed to lead tens of thousands onto the streets on Monday evening.

Russia's Channel One television station led its Wednesday morning news with a report about the election fraud that was allegedly being plotted in Moscow by Putin's young opponents.

It showed a teenage couple with the opposition's white ribbon symbols pinned to their chests telling the camera they were detained while trying to distribute write-in ballots to supporters and plotting other voting offences.

The report came one day after Russia's election commission chief Vladimir Churov drew attention to an Internet site featuring a video he said was prepared by the opposition.

The site showed a mobile phone camera capturing staged footage of violations being committed in Putin's favor by Moscow election authorities on what was meant to look like election day.

Russia's booming blogging community reacted to that video -- posted on YouTube by user 4marchVideo -- with skepticism and called it an attempt to discredit any future evidence of fraud being committed at Sunday's polls.