Russia a freer country - Medvedev

RUSSIA: President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Russia had become a freer nation during his four-year term, citing the mass protests of recent months as evidence of change.

"Spring has come to us, both literally and figuratively. I congratulate you," Medvedev said in a live television interview, his last before he hands over the presidency to Vladimir Putin.

"Freedom," Medvedev sighed and smiled, "is such a unique feeling that everyone interprets differently.

"Freedom is a sense of self. And in this sense we've done a lot," he told a group of liberal journalists, who are usually sidelined for their sceptical stance towards the government.

Medvedev's political mentor, Prime Minister Putin, announced plans in September to seek a third Kremlin term in a job swap with his close ally. AFP