Kathmandu, Sept. 12 -- The party of Russian President Vladimir Putin has suffered big losses in Moscow's city council elections as candidates endorsed by his arch-rival won almost half the seats. With all the votes counted, 20 candidates supported by opposition leader Alexei Navalny got seats in the 45-member legislature. All of the 20 candidates, although often nominally opposing authorities, were endorsed by Navalny's Smart Voting strategy which called on voters to cast their ballots in order to oust the candidates of Putin's United Russia party.

In a sign that United Russia is losing ground in Moscow, the party did not officially nominate a single candidate for the Moscow City Duma, and all of its members or candidates affiliated with...