inputs: hypothesis: Vladimir Putin does not support Medvedev. premise: Today, Dmitry Medvedev was named the candidate for President of Russia by the ruling party United Russia, which holds majority in the newly-elected, State Duma, the lower parliament of Russia. Medvedev, who is the current deputy prime minister of the Russian government and the chairman in the board of directors of Gazprom, was also backed by three other parties and by the current president Vladimir Putin. This means the highly anticipated decision about the supposed successor has been announced.