Russians Question Medvedev In Online Forum

Medvedev was asked about issues ranging from mortgage rates and the supply of medicine to language education in Russia.

Medvedev said local authorities should decide about Ukrainian language education in schools. He also said that as digital television expands in Russia, programming will be available in multiple languages -- including educational programming.

"I hope that, at some point when we've already made the full-fledged transition to digital -- and of course this will take some time -- that any citizen living in our country will have the possibility to use digital channels to watch television in Ukrainian or other languages of the CIS, other languages of the former Soviet republics," he said.

Most analysts consider Medvedev and First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as leading contenders in Russia's 2008 presidential election.

(with material from ITAR-TASS, Interfax)