Russia's Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said his opposition party would set up a Narodnoye Opolchenie (militia) movement to counterbalance the People's Front project of the ruling party.
The People's Front movement was set up by the United Russia party, led by popular Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, as a move to broaden the party's electoral base with "non-party people" in the run-up to the December parliamentary elections.
Speaking at his party congress near Moscow on Saturday, Zyuganov said that the party had held a referendum on the country's further development targets before setting up the Narodnoye Opolchenie movement.
He said the Communists' ideas were broadly supported by the people and the referendum would be continued.
"Russia has already started looking for ways to prevent the imminent catastrophe. People need to stop the destructive force, and the Narodnoye Opochenie is gaining momentum," Zyuganov said.
He said the movement already included members from various social strata.
"Our patriotic movement is the first step toward building Socialism of the 21st century in Russia," he said.
The Communists currently hold 57 seats in the 450-seat Duma, the lower house. The United Russia has 315 seats.
On June 24, President Dmitry Medvedev sent a draft law to the Duma on lowering the vote margin for parties to be elected to the lower house from seven to five percent.
