State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has urged Russian politicians not to investigate allegations of corruption against Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Volodin, who previously served as President Putin's deputy chief of staff, said it would be "wrong" for parliament to conduct an inquiry into the claims, Russia's RBC news outlet reported.

"Supporting this initiative means supporting [opposition politician Alexei] Navalny,” Volodin said, according to one source. “There is an understanding among all factions that we have to unite to defend the prime minister from the attacks of Navalny, who is singing with the voice of the Western intelligence services.”



The Russian parliament will consider a Communist Party proposal to conduct an inquiry into allegations on Wednesday, RBC reported, citing two unidentified sources.

