Youth dominate anti-Putin movement

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MOSCOW, June 27 (UPI) -- A youth opposition movement in Russia is gaining ground over established veteran opponents of the Kremlin, a polling agency found.

During a mid-June national holiday in Russia, opposition leaders read a manifesto calling for Russian President Vladimir Putin to resign, new State Duma elections and a new national constitution.

More than 12,000 security forces were deployed in Moscow's streets to ensure order.

State Duma elections in December were believed to have been skewed in favor of the ruling United Russia Party and frustration spilled over to the presidential contest where Putin secured this third non-consecutive term as president.

State-run polling agency VTsIOM said established political groups are getting overshadowed by youth leaders, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports. The agency said more than 60 percent of people taking part in anti-government demonstrations were under the age of 34.

A rival poll by the Kryshtanovskaya Laboratory indicated that few of those protesting were ready for radical action against the government, however.