Russia to turn back the clocks again Mr Medvedev, now prime minister, got rid of wintertime to gain daylight in the afternoons over the snowy season, saying the time change caused "stress and illnesses," "upset the human biorhythm" and confused cows because they got milked an hour earlier. But many Russians complained they could not cope with the gloomy mornings that resulted and current President Vladimir Putin said earlier this year that "something might not have been thought through." Sergei Kalashnikov, the chairman of the lower house of parliament's health committee, proposed legislation this week that will return the winter clock change and reinstate Russia's 11 time zones, which were reduced to nine in 2010. The initiative was seen as the latest blow to Mr Medvedev, who turned down the chance to run for a second presidential term in elections in March, allowing a return for his long-term ally Mr Putin, who served two earlier stints in the Kremlin from 2000 to 2008. Some observers say a series of defeats for the prime minister suggest his position is fragile, while others think his extreme loyalty to Mr Putin over the years will ensure his survival. Earlier this week the president scolded Mr Medvedev's government for failing to balance the budget and last month Mr Putin undermined his protégé by saying he phoned then-President Medvedev twice in the early hours of the 2008 war with Georgia to discuss a course of action. Mr Medvedev had earlier claimed he took the key initial decisions on his own. Mr Kalashnikov said he hoped new legislation would be in place in time to put back the clocks on October 28.