SKETCHY

Top Russian Journalists Booted

After highlighting election fraud.

Two journalists were fired and a third resigned from a well-known newsmagazine in Russia on Tuesday after it published a controversial cover over the weekend. The magazine, Kommersant Vlast, pictured Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin standing next to a ballot box with scribbling on it and a caption that suggested Putin should step down. The firings came as tensions continued to rise between the Kremlin and Russian citizens over the legitimacy of recent parliamentary elections. Kommersant Vlast reported on several instances of election fraud. Thousands gathered in Moscow to protest the legitimacy of the elections and calling for new elections. President Dmitri Medvedev shrugged off such suggestions, however, saying Parliament would hold its first session beginning Dec. 21.