MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. The Russian State Duma (lower parliament house) commission for probing into facts of foreign interference into Russia’s domestic affairs has referred to the Russian Central Elections Commission data evidencing that Golos, a movement recognized as a foreign agent, received funds from abroad to discredit the results of Russia’s elections, Vasily Piskarev, the commission’s head, said on Friday.
"We received information and referred it to the Central Election Commission that American non-government organizations linked with the US Department of State allocated additional funds to the Golos foreign agent movement to organize a special operation to discredit the results of the elections in Russia," he told journalists.
"Immediately after the announcement of the voting results, a massive campaign will be launched calling for non-recognition of the elections and challenging their outcome. The campaign will be composed of fake news about numerous alleged violations of all sorts - falsification of protocols, carousels, and so on. They will stop at nothing to discredit and shed doubt on the results of the expression of the will of our citizens. It should be prevented," he added.
Even though Apple and Google have satisfied Russia’s requirements and canceled the Navalny app from their stores, foreign structures continue attacks on the Russian electoral system and elections, Piskarev noted.
Andrei Klimov, head of the Federation Council (upper parliament house) commission on the protection of state sovereignty and the prevention of foreign meddling in Russia’s domestic affairs, told TASS earlier that structures affiliated with the United States and a number of other countries would on September 20 begin a disinformation campaign about alleged violations during Russia’s elections, including with the use of foreign digital platforms.
Elections to the 8th Russian State Duma (lower house) are scheduled for September 19, 2021, known as the Single Voting Day. The balloting process will span across three days - September 17, 18, and 19. In addition to the State Duma elections, voters will go to the polls to cast ballots for the heads of nine Russian regions (in another three regions local legislatures will elect top executive officials) and in elections for 39 regional parliaments.