MOSCOW, March 14. /TASS/. During the current election campaign in Russia the West has been using not only social networks, NGOs and defectors who have left Russia, but also terrorist militants to fan pre-election tensions, says Andrey Klimov, the head of the Federation Council's commission on protecting state sovereignty and preventing interference in Russia's internal affairs.
He warned that attempts to "hack into Russia's electoral system" would continue during the period of summarizing the official election returns.
"This time, not only political defectors, Western-controlled NGOs and social networks, government propaganda agencies of unfriendly countries and foreign diplomats, but also terrorist militants, who recently tried to forcefully break through the Russian border, are being used to artificially fan pre-election tensions," Klimov told a TASS news conference. He added that US media, citing their government sources, do not even conceal that "this kind of aggressive and deadly military operations are also being carried out to meddle in the Russian election."
Klimov mentioned attempts to intimidate those who ensure the conduct of Russian elections and those who are going to vote at foreign polling stations at Russian embassies.
"Aren't the frequent flights of Ukrainian combat drones one of the elements of a well-coordinated attack on Russian electoral sovereignty from across the Atlantic?" Klimov asked rhetorically.
"Unfortunately, there are reasons to believe that this thuggish set of attempts to hack into Russia's electoral system and cause a destructive impact on Russian society will continue not only until the end of voting, but also throughout the period of summarizing the official results," he warned.
Klimov believes that Russia's enemies "will spend a long while telling the world various tales about Russian elections, the Russian political system and, by and large, the Russian people, who displease the leadership of unfriendly countries by being ready to defend their freedom and independence both on the battlefield and at polling stations."
"In this sense, every ballot cast is really important to us, as public unity, backed by a high turnout and the unambiguously expressed will of the Russian people, becomes the most important response to all the Russophobic attacks by foreigners and their accomplices," Klimov added.
The Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the day of the presidential election. The Russian Central Election Commission (CEC) then announced that voting will take place over three days on March 15-17. Four candidates will vie for the top office, namely New People party nominee Vladislav Davankov; self-nominated candidate and incumbent President Vladimir Putin; Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) nominee Leonid Slutsky; and Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) nominee Nikolay Kharitonov.