Text of report by heavyweight centrist Russian new

From wire reports MOSCOW With President Vladimir Putin's opponents persistently hobbled by the Kremlin, his party on Sunday swept to the kind of landslide long predicted for the parliamentary elections.

The former economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Andrey Illarionov, has described the parliamentary election on 2 December as illegitimate and as President Putin's failure.

European election monitors said Monday that Russia's parliamentary ballot was unfair, hours after President Vladimir Putin's party swept 70 percent of the seats in the new legislature.

Vladimir Putin's party won a crushing victory in parliamentary elections Sunday, paving the way for the authoritarian leader to remain in control even after he steps down as president.