MOSCOW, April 24: Russia’s president-elect Vladimir Putin on Tuesday broke his last link with the ruling but increasingly unpopular party he formed a decade ago by handing its reins to his future premier Dmitry Medvedev.

Putin’s departure from United Russia marks a dramatic change in fortunes for a group that dominated the country’s politics for most of his 2000-08 presidency but is now the focus of street protests and corruption complaints.

The former KGB spy chaired United Russia while serving as Medvedev’s prime minister for the past four years but was never an actual card-carrying member of the group.

Yet its name became intrinsically linked with Putin’s — still Russia’s most popular figure.—AFP