Russian President-Elect Moves to Kremlin Office

MOSCOW — He will not be president for weeks, but Dmitry Medvedev has already moved into an office in the Kremlin — the seat of power in Russia.

State-run television showed Mr. Medvedev dressing down officials in a Kremlin office yesterday, and the Kremlin press service confirmed that he is now working from an office in the red-brick-walled compound at Moscow's heart rather than Russia's less grandiose government headquarters upriver.

Mr. Medvedev, President Putin's handpicked successor, was elected by a large margin March 2 and is scheduled to be inaugurated May 7. The popular Mr. Putin is set to become his prime minister, prompting widespread speculation about who will really hold Russia's reins.

Mr. Medvedev won more than 70% of the votes, according to the official election tally, but Russians saw his victory as a foregone conclusion because of his backing from Mr. Putin and the Kremlin in a closely choreographed election. The sense that he was chosen to lead Russians, rather than vice versa, could take the edge off his authority.

State-run television footage of Mr. Medvedev's talks with two top officials involved in fishing and sports marked the more soft-spoken former law instructor's latest attempt to embody the firm, powerful image Mr. Putin has conveyed in meetings with sometimes squirming officials called to the Kremlin to report to their leader.