Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has firmly remained out of the news, has decided to run for the presidency next year, raising the possibility of a power struggle with his protege Dmitry Medvedev, the incumbent Kremlin leader.
The Australian reports once-close relationship between Putin, the tough-talking former KGB officer who has inspired a personality cult, and Medvedev, a softly spoken Twitter enthusiast, has become increasingly fractious amid speculation in Moscow that the younger man wishes to stand again.