MOSCOW, January 26. /TASS/. Reports from the US Embassy in Moscow about unsanctioned rallies across Russia were a guidance rather than the intention to inform US nationals staying in Russia, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday.
"This was not informing US nationals about the places they should avoid going to, as the US embassy is trying to wriggle out and explain itself. This was, by and large, a motivation, an instruction that the US Embassy in Moscow gave to those who were first deceived through American social networks and Internet platforms, and then were told about a certain march on the Kremlin," the diplomat told Rossiya-24 television on Monday.
She also said that many participants in unsanctioned rallies had fallen victim to propaganda. "This is exactly the case when this propaganda, veiling a sheer lie, was prompting people to take part in illegal rallies," she explained.
Earlier, protest was voiced to US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan in connection with the embassy’s posting reports in social networks in support of illegal rallies in some Russian cities on January 23. A commentary by an official representative of the US Department of State on the developments on that day was qualified as inadmissible. The ambassador was told that that the Russian side regarded this activity as direct meddling in domestic affairs of Russia and urged compliance with the Russian legislation and diplomatic rules.
Unauthorized rallies in support of opposition blogger Alexey Navalny who had been detained upon return from Germany were held in Moscow and other Russian cities on January 23. Prosecutor’s offices and police warned about responsibility for taking part in unauthorized rallies.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that the fact that the US embassy in Russia had posted on its website information about the time and location of unauthorized event was far beyond the limits of concern for American citizens in Russia.