Events

Senators report on preliminary results of monitoring external interference in the upcoming regional and municipal elections in Russia

A news conference with Andrey Klimov and Vladimir Dzhabarov.


A news conference has been held on the preliminary results of monitoring attempts at external interference in the upcoming regional and municipal elections in Russia in 2022.

The news conference was attended by Andrey Klimov, Chair of the Ad Hoc Commission on Protecting State Sovereignty and Preventing Interference in the Domestic Affairs of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Vladimir Dzhabarov, head of the Ad Hoc Commission’s working group on monitoring attempts at external interference in the upcoming elections in Russia in 2022, first deputy head of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee.

“The course of the special military operation, Russia’s ability to withstand the large-scale sanctions attack waged by the United States and its partners, and the unwillingness of two thirds of humankind to obediently act on instructions from Washington, London and Brussels have radically changed the geopolitical map of the world over the past few months. That change has not been in favour of the unfriendly countries,” Andrey Klimov said.

He pointed out that since the adoption of the Russian Constitution, Russian society has become more consolidated than ever in the past 30 years.

The senator recalled that nearly 5,000 election campaigns and referendums would be held in Russia before 11 September, and that they involved over 20 political parties and more than 70,000 candidates. “The election campaigns are proceeding calmly and in full compliance with Russian law.”

But Russia’s opponents are not relaxing their destructive efforts. “In particular, an informal meeting of the EU countries’ foreign ministers is scheduled to take place in Prague. The meeting’s organiser, Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky who represents the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, said they would discuss a revision of their policy on Russia. The unfriendly part of Europe will not let go of their Russophobic course. On the contrary, the meeting’s organisers are still considering a change of government in Russia and support for Western puppets among Russian citizens.”

Andrey Klimov noted that the Federation Council Commission has been recording various Russophobic and anti-Russia information attacks by Russia’s long-time enemies. “As usual, they are based on open lies and a biased presentation of information. Our analysis has shown that the clients of that campaign of fake news are preparing to slander the ongoing election campaign, openly question its outcome and criticise Russia’s political system as a whole.”

“At the same time, the lack of any visible problems with preparing and holding the upcoming elections testifies to the ability of our state and society to repel ideological, political and information attacks, cyberattacks and any other destructive anti-Russia actions,” the senator pointed out.

Vladimir Dzhabarov reported that the Ad Hoc Commission’s working group had analysed a vast amount of information about potential external interference in the upcoming elections.

“On 12 August, the commission registered an attempt to slander the Russian election system contained in the so-called “investigation” conducted by a foreign agent media outlet located in the Baltics. Its unsubstantiated allegations, based on the conclusions of unidentified ‘independent experts’ and ‘artificial intelligence,’ were picked up by the Voice of America and Radio Liberty, which are funded by the US administration, the German propaganda outlet Deutsche Welle and other Western outlets.”

According to Vladimir Dzhabarov, Western resources and foreign agent media outlets are using a system of supporting persons who cannot hold an elected office for legal reasons. “This is obviously being done to accuse Russia of preventing certain candidates for running in the elections.”

For example, the Golos movement, which has been denoted a foreign agent, has published several reports which criticise the restrictions on running for office imposed on individuals who have been involved in the activities of extremist and terrorist organisations, the senator said.

“The commission has established that the publication of the so-called reports and investigations has been accompanied by the airing of similar conclusions in the Western media and foreign agent media outlets. This is evidence of the coordinated preparation and implementation of such information attacks on the election campaign,” Dzhabarov noted.

“At the same time, the analysis conducted by the Commission shows that the destructive actions by the United States and its NATO partners have not produced the desired effect. The Russian system of protecting its election sovereignty and resisting any attempts at interference is effective, the ability to plant fake news and support radicals is limited, so the planting of such fake news and attempts to interfere in the course of the election campaign have hardly had any effect. The prompt exposure of our enemies’ activities allows us to bring the desired result to naught,” Vladimir Dzhabarov concluded.

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