Today: Putin could become leader of new state; Bukovsky and Zyuganov to run for the presidency; Gazprom raises prices; Moldovan journalist barred from entering Russia; Medvedka vodka?

Kremlin sources say Vladimir Putin could still accept the Russian prime ministership, but that it would be “a step backwards”. Instead, he is “taken with the idea of becoming president of a new Russian-Belarussian state.” “Artifice plays a role in politics everywhere, yet Russia seems to have adopted a kind of imitation of democracy.” Yabloko has announced that it will not support its veteran leader, Grigory Yavlinsky, to run for president in the next election, but will instead back Vladimir Bukovsky, a Soviet-era dissident who has been living in London in recent years. The Communist Party has nominated its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, to run for president.