Russia braces for massive anti-Putin protests

MOSCOW -- Russian authorities are allowing the opposition to hold a massive Moscow protest against election fraud following a violent police crackdown on unsanctioned demonstrations earlier this week, rally organizers said Friday.

The decision to let up to 30,000 protesters rally on Saturday on a square across the river from the Kremlin appears to be an attempt to avoid the violence that occurred at demonstrations after last Sunday's parliamentary election.

Election authorities on Friday officially declared the vote valid, handing the victory to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. The party won 49 percent of the vote, but was granted 53 percent of seats in the lower house of Parliament because of votes redistributed from the three parties that did not meet the 5 percent threshold.

Russia's opposition parties and observers said that even that result was highly inflated because of vote rigging, and international monitors also pointed to ballot stuffing.

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