Russia's Interior Ministry said it had deployed around 450,000 soldiers and police to protect voters during this weekend's presidential election, dpa cited Itar-Tass news agency as reporting on Saturday. The ministry also announced that, in order to prevent possible terrorist attacks, polling stations in big cities had been equipped with metal detectors. Around 110 million Russians are being called on to elect a successor to President Dmitry Medevedev on Sunday. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has already served eight years as president between 2000 and 2008, is the favourite of five candidates for the post. The electoral commission said Saturday it had tested new webcams, which will offer a live broadcast of voting and vote counting in 96,000 polling stations. Putin says the webcams, which cost 435 million dollars, are aimed at avoiding vote rigging. Minister for Telecommunications Igor Shchegolev said around 600,000 people had registered online to watch the vote. The opposition say the cameras alone cannot prevent fraud. Voting gets underway Saturday already in the Russian Far East. In Chukotka near Alaska and in Kamchatka Peninsula polls open at 8 am (2000 GMT) Saturday. In Moscow, the vote begins at 8 am (0400 GMT) on Sunday.
