Vladimir Putin rejected opposition protests against his presidential election victory Tuesday and his Foreign Ministry ruled out any softening of Moscow's stance on Syria, a strong indication that the Russian leader has no intention of easing tough policies either at home or abroad, according to AP. The harsh statements came after helmeted riot police forcefully broke up Monday's opposition attempt to occupy a downtown square in a challenge to Putin's victory; they arrested about 250 people who were later released. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the police action, saying that it showed a "high level of professionalism, legitimacy and effectiveness," comments signaling that the government would show no hesitation to use force again on protesters. Putin, president from 2000 to 2008 before becoming prime minister due to term limits, won more than 63 percent of Sunday's vote. The opposition and independent observers said the election was marred by massive fraud, including so-called "carousel voting" in which busloads of voters are driven around to cast ballots multiple times.
