The Federation Council called on the UN to condemn attempts to influence the presidential elections in Russia

The Federation Council on Wednesday appealed to the UN and parliaments of foreign countries to condemn the actions of “the countries of the collective West, coordinated by Washington, to interfere in the preparation and conduct of the presidential elections in the Russian Federation.” Among such actions, the senators included refusals of politicians to recognize the voting results, statements by Russian foreign agents about massive violations, cyber attacks on the website of the Central Election Commission and armed attacks on border regions. The terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, which was committed “by foreign citizens the day after the election results were determined,” unexpectedly found itself in the same row.

The Federation Council meeting on April 3 began with a minute of silence in memory of those killed in Crocus City Hall (the previous meeting of the upper house was held before the tragedy – on March 20). “All those involved in this monstrous terrorist act will certainly suffer the deserved, most severe punishment – both the direct perpetrators, and their accomplices, and those who ordered the terrorist attack, in whatever countries and under whatever masks they are hiding,” said speaker Valentina Matvienko, thanking law enforcement officers and doctors for the “highest level of professionalism” shown on March 22.

She expressed confidence that as a result of the investigation, “our society and the whole world will know who and how organized this bloody attack on peaceful, defenseless, unarmed people.”

“It is too early to draw final conclusions, but the fact that the United States and other Western countries in the first minutes of the tragedy, when the shots had not yet stopped, turned on their propaganda apparatus at full capacity and began to actively shield Ukraine, speaks volumes. As they say, a thief’s cap is on fire,” the speaker emphasized. “We well understand the reasons for such haste and fever, but I want to assure everyone that this campaign to cover up Ukraine will not in any way affect the objectivity of the investigation. The whole truth will be established and made public.”

Next came the head of the Committee on International Affairs, Grigory Karasin, who presented an appeal from the upper house to the UN, international parliamentary organizations and foreign parliaments in connection with attempts by external interference in the preparation and conduct of the presidential elections in the Russian Federation. The document says that these attempts began even before the voting date was set, in most cases were coordinated by Washington and were carried out on several fronts.

In particular, we are talking about:

• about statements by high-ranking Western politicians about non-recognition of the results of the expression of will;
• on the retransmission by Western media of information from Russians included in the register of foreign agents;
• about 1.5 thousand alleged violations, of which only 2% were confirmed;
• about attempts to create a digital platform for holding “fake “alternative” elections from abroad”;
• about violation of the ban on campaigning on voting days, including “by holding a protest rally inspired from abroad at noon on March 17, 2024”;
• about the spread from abroad of calls for illegal actions at polling stations, which provoked in a number of regions the burning of ballot boxes and the destruction of ballots with brilliant green;
• on the creation by the authorities of unfriendly states of artificial obstacles to voting by citizens of the Russian Federation abroad;
• about attempts to put pressure on election organizers by including them in sanctions lists;
• about 12 million cyber attacks on the Central Election Commission website;
• on preventing the arrival of invited international observers to Russia.

The “Kiev regime, incited by NATO curators,” also took actions to disrupt the elections: Ukrainian armed forces fired at polling stations in the border regions, actively used drones, and even tried to break into the territory of the Kursk and Belgorod regions, but received a “harsh rebuff.” And the day after the election results were determined in the Crocus City Hall concert hall, “foreign citizens committed a bloody terrorist act that resulted in the death of more than one hundred and forty people,” the appeal says.

According to Grigory Karasin, the upper house “particularly notes” among the attempts to intervene “the terrorist actions of the Kyiv regime” and “emphasizes” that the terrorist attack in the Moscow region occurred “literally the day after the election results were summed up.” “We call on foreign governments to condemn the actions of forces led by the US ruling circles to encourage terrorism and extremism, obstruct the will of Russian citizens and interfere in the preparation of elections,” he concluded, adding that the text of the document was agreed upon with the Central Election Commission and the Russian Foreign Ministry. Senators supported the appeal unanimously.

Andrey Prah