SIRIUS /Federal Territory/, March 6. /TASS/. Moscow is seeing increasing attempts to disrupt voting in the Russian presidential election at embassies abroad as attempts are being made to exert psychological pressure on Russian nationals there, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the sidelines of the World Youth Festival.
Work is ongoing at Russia's foreign embassies "to enhance the security of polling stations. We have been registering increasing calls to disrupt the vote. Also, attempts are being made to put psychological pressure on Russians," the diplomat said.
Zakharova lambasted the democracy in Estonia where she said the authorities unambiguously threaten consequences for voting in the coming election. "Why don’t they (the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - TASS) react to <…> direct warnings and threats from those governments?" she asked rhetorically.
Russia will hold its presidential election on March 17 with voting taking place over three days from March 15-17 for the first time ever.
The World Youth Festival is taking place in the Sirius Federal Territory on March 1-7. While applications to attend were submitted by over 300,000 people from 190 countries. Participants in the festival’s regional program will visit 30 Russian cities on March 10-17. TASS is the general media partner of the event.