MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Powerful outside interference in Russia’s presidential election failed to affect its outcome, Federation Council (upper house of parliament, or "senate") Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
"As for [election] interference, it was powerful and unparalleled. It began long before the start of the election. We saw it all and we were monitoring it all. First of all, we’re talking about cyberattacks: there were not even hundreds of thousands but millions of attacks on our websites and our system but they failed to achieve anything," the Federation Council speaker told reporters.
"Our electoral system - and our system of government in a broader sense - turned out to be able to withstand it all. They failed to influence the will of our citizens in any way. We have stood our ground, which is further evidence of the sustainability and stability of our system of government," Matviyenko added.
According to Matviyenko, strong attempts were made on social media to manipulate Russian citizens and discredit Russia’s system of government. "Clearly, now that the election is over we will carefully assess it all and the Federation Council’s commission looking into foreign interference and working to protect national sovereignty will make all the unclassified conclusions public," the senate speaker added.