MOSCOW, March 24./TASS/. Personal data of Donbass residents and Ukrainians staying in Russia may be used for ballot-stuffing during the Ukrainian presidential election, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in an interview with the Izvestia daily.

"Already now, during the election campaign, technologies are used to distort the results of the vote," he said. "Unprecedented possibilities have been created to use personal data from the electoral register - residents of the [self-proclaimed] Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics that are not under Kiev’s control, as well as Ukrainian labor migrants who have left for Russia and who won’t be able to either vote or file a protest against the illegitimate use of their ballots," he said.

Patrushev emphasized that "at the present time Ukraine is governed from outside, namely from Washington". In their statements, Americans maintain that they will support any elected candidate, he said. "However, it is absolutely clear that they are looking to Poroshenko, who is complying with instructions from the overseas sponsors," the security chief said.

"He is a familiar, predictable and controllable person for the Americans, his reelection meets strategic interests of Washington, interested in seeing that Ukraine continue its Euro-Atlantic path".

However, the Ukrainian people associate with Poroshenko outrage of national-extremist units in the country, mass violations of human rights and freedom of faith, corruption scandals, economic meltdown and impoverishment of the population. "That is why, Poroshenko’s populist actions won’t bring him a growth in popularity and support of the voters that he seeks," Patrushev believes.

Moreover, if Poroshenko stays in power, Russian-Ukrainian relations won’t normalize, he said. "He has already made a crucial step - terminating the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Russia and Ukraine," he said.

"His victory as a result of vote-rigging will deepen political and social-economic contradictions in the society up to disintegration of Ukraine," Patrushev summed up.

A record number of candidates - 39 people - will take part in Ukraine’s presidential election due on March 31, 2019. According to latest opinion polls, comedian Vladimir Zelensky (24.9%) leads the race, followed by leader of the Batkivshchina (or Fatherland) party Yulia Timoshenko (18.8%) and incumbent President Pyotr Poroshenko (17.4%).