According to recent reports, President Vladimir Putin has launched an attack on the west and Russia's marginalized political opposition, accusing them of plotting together to weaken the country and return it to the chaos and thievery of the 1990s.

On Wednesday, at a Moscow rally of 5,000 supporters that was a centrepiece of Russia's parliamentary election campaign, the president used the blunt and colloquial language that has become his trademark.

He warned Russia that enemies were intent on snuffing out its economic revival and provoking an ill-intentioned "Orange" revolution.

The rally heard Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the eponymous assault rifle, and Fyodor Bondarchuk, a film director, call for continuation of Russia's political course.

In his concluding address, the president then warned of dire consequences if the pro-Kremlin United Russia party - whose ticket Mr Putin is heading - did not triumph in the polls on December 2.

"Those who oppose us don't want our plans to be completed. They have completely different tasks and different views of Russia. They need a weak, sick state, a disorientated, divided society, so that behind its back they can get up to their dirty deeds and profit at your and my expense," he said.

"Unfortunately there are people inside the country who sponge off foreign embassies ... who count on the support of foreign resources and governments and not of their own people."

Russia's state-controlled Channel One devoted almost its entire early evening news to the often nationalistic speech, which ended with a call to vote for United Russia.