Russia's chief elections controller chosen

The Russian Central Election Commission elected its new head on Tuesday. Vladimir Churov, a former member of Liberal Democratic Party, was announced as a new chairman after a secret ballot at the first meeting of the commission.

Mr Churov's candidacy was backed by thirteen of the fifteen commission members.

Vladimir Churov is 54-years-old and has previously served in a number of state organisations, including the Russian State Duma.

He took over from the previous top election official Aleksandr Veshnyakov.