MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Alexander Grebyonkin, deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, said the US and its allies allocated more than 4 billion rubles ($65.4 million) to individuals and entities that that conduct destructive work in Russia and criticize the country’s government, the Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported on Monday.
"In the context of the special military operation, there are some public organizations, news media outlets and individuals, very few of them, in fact, that have gotten more active and criticize the policy of the country's leadership, take collaborationist positions and try to tout pseudo-pacifist slogans," he said in an interview to the newspaper.
Grebyonkin said "this destructive activity is generously paid for from the pockets of the US and its allies."
"For example, they received more than 4 billion rubles from abroad this year. The main donor countries, as before, are the US and the UK," he said.
Grebyonkin also said some radical groups and individuals receiving their "thirty pieces of silver" from abroad "attempted to organize so-called anti-war protests" in February and March of this year.
"These events are now isolated and don’t find the support of our citizens," he said.
He said the measures that were taken made it possible to promptly stop attempts to interfere from the outside in the internal affairs of Russia. This year, 18 offices and branches of foreign and international non-governmental organizations were liquidated, and the activities of 13 organizations from the UK, Poland, the US, Ukraine and other countries were designated as undesirable and banned in Russia for repeated gross violations of Russian legislation. Also, according to Grebyonkin, seven non-profit organizations, 13 entities and 48 individuals have been designated as foreign agents.