Key poll begins in St Petersburg

Ms Matviyenko is openly supported by Putin

St Petersburg residents have begun voting for a new city governor, in what is being seen as a test of popularity for Vladimir Putin ahead of expected Russian presidential elections next March.

Mr Putin is openly backing Valentina Matviyenko, his representative in north-western Russia and the clear leader in the polls.

The campaign has been controversial, with rivals recently challenging Ms Matviyenko's candidacy in court.

The election is to replace governor Vladimir Yakovlev, who stepped down earlier in the year amid charges of mismanagement of the city's 300th anniversary celebrations.

Would you vote for a horse if the president asked you to? Anna Markova, candidate

Opinion polls suggest Ms Matviyenko will get around 40% of the vote.

She requires at least 50% to avoid a run-off, which has to take place within two weeks of the first round.

Legal challenge

More than 1,700 polling station opened at 0800 local time (0400 GMT) in Russia's second city.

Some 3.7 million city residents are eligible to vote until the polls close at 2000 local time (1600 GMT).

The strongest of Ms Matviyenko's eight opponents is the current deputy governor, Anna Markova.

Putin is himself a native of the city

Ms Markova has complained throughout the campaign that Ms Matviyenko has used her position as the president's favourite to virtually monopolise the media, despite a new election law requiring equal media coverage for all candidates.

At the beginning of September, Mr Putin openly wished Ms Matviyenko success in a meeting broadcast by two national TV stations.

Ms Markova and another candidate, Konstantin Sukhenko, responded by trying to get Ms Matviyenko thrown out of the race on legal grounds. The bid was unsuccessful.

Ms Markova even went on to the city's main thoroughfare with a horse and a sign saying "Would you vote for a horse if the president asked you to?"

Another candidate, Oleg Titov, tried to withdraw his candidacy as a protest.

But a court ruled that he had acted too late, and his name will still appear on the ballots.

Trusted ally

Ms Matviyenko, a 54-year-old former diplomat, has lived most of her adult life in St Petersburg and first came to prominence in Moscow in 1998.

She became post-Soviet Russia's highest-ranking woman official, as deputy prime minister in the cabinet of Yevgeny Primakov.

She is considered a trusted ally of Mr Putin, who is himself a native of St Petersburg.

She briefly became a candidate in elections there in 2000, but entered the race late and withdrew when it became clear she could not win.

Mr Putin had hoped she could oust Mr Yakovlev, whom he blamed for the fall of his political mentor Anatoly Sobchak.

Mr Sobchak, a prominent reformer at the end of the Soviet era, was defeated as governor by Mr Yakovlev, then his deputy, in 1996 and died four years later.

Billboards

Ms Matviyenko appears to be in a much stronger position than three years ago.

Her appointment as Mr Putin's envoy in the region last March was seen as a jumping-off point for the campaign.

Correspondents say is happy to exploit her links with the president, with billboards around the city showing her side by side with Mr Putin.

She has pledged to improve the city's dilapidated appearance and continue Mr Yakovlev's reconstruction programme.

For this she unexpectedly received the endorsement of the former governor himself this week.