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United Russia (Russian: Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya) is the major political party in the...

United Russia (Russian: Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya) is the major political party in the Russian Federation. United Russia supports President Dmitry Medvedev, and is currently the largest political party in the Russian Federation. On April 15, 2008, Vladimir Putin accepted the nomination to become chairman of the party. United Russia was founded in April 2001 as a merger of centrist Fatherland - All Russia party led by Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov and the pro-government Unity Party of Russia led by emergency minister Sergey Shoigu. United Russia made rapid gains in federal and local elections due to the popularity of its leading figure, Vladimir Putin. A number of ministers in Putin's and Medvedev's governments and in many regional governments and other senior government officials in Russia are members of the party. The long-time head of United Russia was Speaker of the State Duma and former Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov, elected party leader in November 2002. The party signed a collaboration agreement in 2005 with Ukraine's "Party of the Regions". On April 15, 2008, Putin accepted a nomination to become the party's chairman. By April 2008, United Russia was claiming 1.98