MOSCOW, February 8./TASS/. Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor has blocked over 2,000 resources this year that were meant to sway public opinion in Russia in the run-up to the upcoming presidential election, the watchdog’s deputy head Vadim Subbotin said.

According to him, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media is now recording attempts to discredit the presidential election, to organize protests aimed at disrupting it, to intimidate the population through scores of fake stories about terrorist attacks, including at educational institutions, to organize and coordinate from abroad protests and unrest in Russian regions. The special military operation theme is used actively within this context; information with insufficient, discrediting and other destructive information related to it is being exposed and blocked, he said.

"We are actively working on such cases together with the territorial offices of Roskomnadzor in cooperation with the Central Election Commission, the Prosecutor General's Office, and concerned government authorities. Since the beginning of the year, we have restricted access to more than 2,000 resources and individual materials on the above topics," Subbotin told a meeting of the upper house’s commission on the protection of state sovereignty and prevention of interference in Russia’s internal affairs of the Russian Federation.

Subbotin also noted that foreign sites and resources belonging to persons recognized as foreign agents are used to spread destructive information ahead of the presidential election.

The Russian Federation Council has scheduled the Russian presidential election for March 17, 2024. Voting will last three days: March 15, 16 and 17.