MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Overt and covert attempts by Western countries to undermine elections in Russia are of only trifling significance to the country, Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) Chairwoman Ella Pamfilova told TASS in an interview.
"Despite the tremendous efforts, both overt and covert, by a pool of Western countries, which have designated us as an enemy, to discredit the elections, this, actually, is of trifling significance to Russia," the top Russian election official said.
Pamfilova surmised that, while some of those Russian citizens who had fled the country were currently engaged in actions aimed at discrediting the upcoming Russian presidential election, "nobody needs them over there [in the West], except perhaps as traitors [useful for Western propaganda]." The elections chief added that she, for one, had no inclination to feel sorry for them as they had made their choice.
The elections chief noted that Russia has one of the most liberal legislative frameworks for enabling its citizens to vote while abroad as she gave her assurances that the Russian authorities would not undermine the voting rights of self-exiled Russians. "Paradoxically <…>, if there are any violations of the voting rights of our citizens who are located abroad, they would arise exclusively through the fault of unfriendly nations due to the never-ending stream of anti-Russian sanctions [that they have put in place], which they have no plans to end," she concluded.