YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, September 28. /TASS/. The number of cyberattacks on Russia's government information systems and critical digital infrastructure seriously intensified during the recent State Duma election, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told reporters during a working trip to the Sakhalin Region.

"Even before the voting started, the US Department of State had publicly expressed doubts about the fairness of the Russian elections. Western-controlled media outlets published unfounded allegations of democratic rights being violated in our country. US non-profit organizations carried out illegal pre-election canvassing among Russians," Patrushev pointed out.

"Pressure on government information systems and critical digital infrastructure significantly increased. Cyberattacks on the servers of the Central Election Commission (CEC) were recorded during the voting days, which emanated from the US," the top security official stressed.

Once the voting was over, the US Department of State alleged that the elections "took place under conditions not conducive to free and fair proceedings," Patrushev noted. "At the same time, I would like to point out that observers monitoring the balloting process, including those who represented PACE [the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] and the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] stated in one voice that the voting developments were fully in line with all democratic standards and international law," he specified.

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said earlier that a great number of cyberattacks against the CEC servers had been recorded during the three-day vote. According to the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, about half of those attacks came from the United States.