Unsurprisingly, United Russia is claiming that it won the weekend’s regional elections by a landslide, with an average of 60% of the vote, as opposition candidates protested.  The head of the Communist party called the campaign ‘the dirtiest of all held in the post-Yeltsin period‘, and The Other Russia reports on ‘massive election fraud‘ with a particular focus on the use of absentee ballots.  The FT quotes the head of the Chuvashia central election committee, who stated on her resignation that the commission had been ‘guided by certain political forces‘.  Former Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov insists that he ‘will not quit politics‘, and insists that ‘many political structures, movements and some parties are eager to join forces with me‘.  A state program worth $26 million is to be implemented over the next 15 years in a bid to ‘increase patriotic consciousness‘.  An Iranian official is calling on his government to sue Russia for reneging on a deal to deliver S-300 missile systems to Iran.