KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Russia, it's a very good idea to mind your P's and Q's, cross your T's, and dot your I's. And we mean that quite literally, as a young schoolgirl recently learned after writing a letter to President Putin. CNN's Steve Harrigan reports from Moscow.</s>STEVE HARRIGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All Anya Povorova wanted was a video camera.</s>ANYA POVOROVA (voice of translator): We read that the president helped people who wrote him letters. So we decided to try it.</s>HARRIGAN: The six seniors at Vorobyovo High wanted to film their graduation ball. They sent an unsigned note to Moscow. The Kremlin responded and asked who wrote the letter. The local administration was alarmed.</s>MARIA GUSEVA, SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (voice of translator): The letter had grammatical mistakes. There was no exclamation point after the president's name. It should never have been sent.</s>HARRIGAN: Had the chief executive been slighted?</s>POVOROVA: People began to panic. Some of them got scared.</s>HARRIGAN: Two regional inspectors were sent to re-check Anya's final exams. One grade was lowered enough to strip her of her silver medal for academic excellence. The local administration says there is no connection between the two events. "It is not forbidden to write letters here," he says. "You can write to Putin, to America, to Argentina. It has nothing to do with the medal." Now, instead of medical college in the city, Anya may have to attend the local dairy institute.</s>POVOROVA: If I had known what was going to happen, I would never have written the letter.</s>HARRIGAN: One week after the ball, a package arrived from the Kremlin with a video camera. Steve Harrigan, CNN, Moscow.
Russian Schoolgirl Ends up Worse Off After Writing Letter to President Putin