The United States seeks to reduce turnout in the Russian presidential elections – Kommersant

The administration of US President Joe Biden sets the task of American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to reduce turnout in the presidential elections in Russia. This was stated by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).

“According to information received by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation, the Joe Biden administration is setting American NGOs the task of achieving a reduction in turnout in the upcoming Russian presidential elections on March 15-17,” the message states (quoted from “RIA News”). According to the intelligence service, calls are being spread through opposition resources for Russian citizens to ignore the elections. The service also expects increased cyber attacks on the remote electronic voting system, which will make it impossible to count a significant share of votes.

“The American idea is simple. According to Washington’s calculations, the resulting “reduction in turnout” will give the West a reason to question the election results,” the message states (quoted from “RIA News”). The department cited as examples the low turnout for the election of French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the lack of elections for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

March 4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedthat he invited his foreign colleagues to a meeting “a couple of weeks ago” to discuss the presidential election. According to him, Russian special services have information that foreign embassies intend to interfere in the election process. Two days before the date of the meeting, the head of the Russian diplomatic department received a note “we decided not to go.” In the European diplomatic service explained the refusal low level of trust and reluctance to listen to lectures.

The Russian presidential elections will be held from March 15 to 17. Early voting for residents of hard-to-reach areas, as well as shift workers, reindeer herders, border guards, fishermen, mine employees and SVO participants began on February 25 and will last until March 14. Also, on March 10, early voting began in the DPR, including Avdeevka and in the border areas of the Belgorod region.

Read more about the pre-election debates in the material “Ours among our own”.

Alexandra Goroshilova