Mr Putin said he would ask elections chief Vladimir Churov to “thoroughly check all possible violations about which you have spoken” as he met with all the election losers save Gennady Zyuganov, the communist challenger who came second and who has refused to recognise the result, at a health complex on the edge of Moscow on Monday.
Mr Churov is known among protest leaders as “The Magician” because of his apparently magical power to ensure smooth elections for the ruling authorities. . .