Russia Points Finger at U.S.: Alleges Covert Election Interference

Russia has raised suspicions that the U.S. is secretly trying to influence the ongoing presidential elections, scheduled to continue until the 17th. These allegations follow the country’s warnings against Western interference. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin’s fifth term is taken as a foregone conclusion in the election.

Reuters reported on the 15th (local time) that Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, claimed about reports that former U.S. President Donald Trump had approved the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA)’s covert operation to foster anti-government sentiment in China during his tenure. Peskov told reporters, “We have experienced such activities for years,” and “U.S. and related agencies, including intelligence agencies, have been doing the same to our country and are still attempting to do so.”

He added, “Only decisive measures to protect our domestic political landscape and society from such attempts of intervention have significantly reduced the effect of the works of U.S. special agencies.” However, he believes this does not stop the U.S. from giving up on similar operations.

Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also claimed on the 16th that the West had actively tried to disrupt the Russian election over the past year. She told Russia’s TASS news agency, “Our opponents didn’t just start inciting a week or a month ago,” and “It appears like they’ve done everything possible in the past year to disrupt the election, to prevent it from taking place, or to distort people’s thoughts about the election in various ways.” They claim that Western countries are trying to influence the digital field by spreading false information and blocking Russian agency apps on digital platforms.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, on the 7th to warn her not to attempt to interfere in domestic affairs. On the 11th, they criticized the U.S. for trying to intervene in the Russian election and even claimed that the U.S. has plans for a cyber-attack on Russia’s online voting system.