Putin Calls on Russians To Vote Pro-Kremlin

MOSCOW — President Putin yesterday strongly urged Russians to cast ballots for the main pro-Kremlin party whose ticket he's leading in Sunday's parliamentary vote. "I count on your support," he said. Rights activists said authorities were pressuring voters to cast their ballots for the Kremlin-backed party, and opposition groups saw their rallies broken up by police, and many activists, including a world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, were arrested. Mr. Kasparov, co-leader of an alliance of Russian opposition groups, was released from jail yesterday after serving his five-day sentence for leading a protest march.