MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The US Department of State statement regarding ‘pressure’ on candidates and voters during the election campaign is direct intervention in Russia’s domestic affairs, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"The US Department of State recently accused the Russian government of pressuring candidates running in the Russian presidential race in 2018, by using strict measures against some independents and inability to protect Russia’s space to exercise human rights," the diplomat said. "Such statements by the Department of State are a direct intervention in the electoral process and the domestic affairs of a foreign country."

"On what grounds do US representatives feel that they are entitled to assess the domestic processes of other countries," she added. "As for some strict measures against independent ‘voices,’ in particular if we’re talking about journalists, what specific cases are we talking about here? Can we receive correct information from, let’s say, the Department of State, about what agency applies these strict measures and in what way?"

Zakharova noted that the United States is openly hunting Russian media. "Before saying anything about our system, they need to analyze their own first," the diplomat noted.

"If our counterparts in the Department of State or in other US agencies continue to make such statements, we will be commenting on them, we’ll remind Americans how their electoral processes work and provide the corresponding facts to you," she stressed.