Russian election 'neither free nor fair', as watchdogs say Putin regime is like Soviet era

But at the same time hundreds of police were deployed in Moscow to break up a small protest by opponents demonstrating against what they saw as a rigged ballot.

Dozens of activists whose parties were banned from the poll were dragged away and detained by officers in riot gear and wielding truncheons.

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The authorities claimed the rally did not have official approval.

But the disturbing scenes will be seen as further evidence that the new man is merely a puppet and that outgoing president Vladimir Putin's hardline policies will continue unaltered.

Medvedev, 42, a Putin loyalist largely unknown to voters until recently, won 70 per cent of the vote.

Gordon Brown said he hoped the result would lead to better relations between Britain and Russia.

In St Petersburg, home of both Medvedev and Putin where a rally did have the go-ahead, leading opposition activist Maxim Reznik was also arrested.

As the West lauded the 42 year old president-elect, who will be the country's youngest leader since tsarist times, his first act was to play gas roulette with neighbouring Ukraine, slashing supplies by 25 per cent despite freezing temperatures.

The act was designed to show that the Russian bear will still growl under its new leader and was followed by an additional ten per cent cut later in the day.

So concerned was the European Union that Gazprom - the gas monolith that Medvedev still heads before taking over the Kremlin on May 7 - that the company privately assured countries including Britain that its supplies - which pass through Ukraine.

It also assured them it would not be disrupted in connection with a long running dispute over non-payment of bills.

"We continue to monitor closely the development of this situation," said EU spokesman Michele Cercone.

"Gazprom has assured the commission that gas supplies to the European Union will not be affected."

Meanwhile Mr Brown sent his congratulations to Medvedev and a letter offering a new start in relations which are in a Cold War-style freeze over the murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London with polonium-210.

"We have always said that we will look for opportunities to improve our relationship with Russia, and hope to see greater Russian cooperation on a number of issues," said his spokesman.

"But we should judge the new government on its actions and the results of those actions."

The EU, Germany and Italy also offered Medvedev their best wishes while France's Nicolas Sarkozy "warmly congratulated" him in a telephone call.

His foreign minister Bernard Kouchner was less gushing, stressing the result was known in advance and pointing to "very surprising figures, not quite worthy of Stalin, but 70 percent is not bad."

Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed this, declaring that "democratic rules were not always upheld".

The White House delayed its response.

An EU spokeswoman, when questioned on the lack of criticism of election flaws from Commission president Manuel Barroso, said: "In our view dialogue is always better than shutting the door."

The sole Western observer mission monitoring the election, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said the poll failed to reflect Russia's "democratic potential."

"We think there is no freedom in this election," said mission chief Andreas Gross.

"The results of the presidential election are a reflection of the will of an electorate whose democratic potential was unfortunately not tapped," he said.

Two opposition parties are planning legal action against the authorities over alleged rigging.