MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. New fake-making technologies are being used at the ongoing parliamentary elections in Russia to distract observers from the ruling United Russian party from monitoring the voting process, deputy secretary of the United Russia General Council Sergey Perminov said on Friday.

"For the first time, we are faced with a destructive digital technology when our opponents in a number of regions are using unverified fake news to create an information environment the truth cannot break through. This way, they are seeking to distract our observers from monitoring the process," he said.

In his words, up to 40 various untrue news items were reportedly posted in a span of one minute in the Leningrad region. "It is an unprecedented thing. I am more than sure that such technologies cannot be implemented in practice by one person or a group of individuals. These are systemic attempts to meddle with the voting through posting negative information streams," he said, adding that the monitoring system has learned to identify such things.

"Our observers respond swiftly whether this or that violation happened or not," he noted and stressed that there have been "practically no" violations during the voting.

As many as 105,000 United Russia observers are monitoring the elections.

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.