Medvedev Warns West against Criticizing Russia Political System

President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday warned the West against criticizing Russia's political system after OSCE-led observers said the elections were slanted in favor of ruling party United Russia.

"If they watch over the elections, the violations -- that is one thing," RIA Novosti quoted Medvedev as saying. "But the question of what the political systems looks like -- that is none of their business."

Russia deployed troops in central Moscow and held opposition figures on Tuesday after a thousands-strong protest against the results of Sunday's elections which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party United Russia won with a reduced majority.

The demonstrators heeded a call on social networking websites for a rally in Moscow.

With the opposition warning of further demonstrations in the days to come, the interior ministry sent troops into the capital and increased the alert level of security forces in an apparent bid to ensure order.

Monitors led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the polls were slanted in favor of United Russia and marred by "frequent procedural violations" including ballot stuffing.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised "serious concerns," a sentiment echoed by Britain which urged a rapid and transparent investigation.

Interior ministry spokesman Oleg Yelnikov told Agence France Presse the security forces would be on a "heightened regime" of alert until all the votes are counted, adding that some 11,500 interior ministry troops would ensure order nationwide.

A Moscow police spokesman told AFP that up to 4,000 police and interior ministry troops would be deployed to ensure order during several planned rallies in the Russian capital on Tuesday.

Under the slogan "We are Against United Russia!", bloggers were already calling for a new rally later Tuesday on the Russian social networking site VKontakte. "We will make it hot for the thieving authorities," the page promised.

Police said they arrested 300 people including prominent activist Ilya Yashin and opposition blogger Alexei Navalny in Monday's protest. A Moscow court on Tuesday found Yashin guilty of disobeying police orders and handed him a 15-day jail sentence.

Throughout the morning, Russian bloggers posted videos and claimed they saw columns of armored vans carrying troops heading down the main avenues into the city.

An AFP correspondent saw around 20 vehicles and 15 buses, some empty, some filled with police in central Moscow.

Moscow police warned they would prevent any unsanctioned protests in the Russian capital and participants would be arrested.

"Any provocations will be prevented in strict accordance with the law," Moscow police said in a statement. "Those who try to stage any unsanctioned event understand perfectly well that they will be detained."

The opposition said the authorities had used unprecedented dirty tricks to keep the ruling party's dominance in the State Duma amid falling support, and insisted the results would have been far worse in clean polls.

Putin played down the sharp election losses as an inevitable outcome of tough economic times. "There were losses, but they were inevitable ... Under the present circumstances, this is a good result," he said.

"We are not simply adapting, we are responding to the challenges of time, always and in everything. And yours truly too, I hope," he said in a televised meeting with supporters.

The opposition and many ordinary Russians have taken to calling United Russia the party of "swindlers and thieves." Putin told his supporters not to pay attention, saying authorities have always had to struggle with "clichés".

Pro-Kremlin youth organization Nashi sought to prove the authorities could still mobilize the faithful, staging a rally attracting thousands of supporters banging drums near the Kremlin walls to show their backing for United Russia.

Top Kremlin ideologue Vladislav Surkov admitted there had been some violations during the vote but insisted they were not on an "industrial scale".

"Stop wailing, I am sick of you," he said in comments posted on LiveJournal, one of Russia's most popular blogging sites.

The ruling party polled less than 50 percent of the vote, down from over 64 percent in 2007. It took 238 seats in the 450-seat State Duma, down sharply from the 315 seats it won in the last elections in 2007.

United Russia's biggest opposition will be the Communist Party with 92 seats.