Kremlin accuses the West of interference in Russian presidential elections
Chairman of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Klimov stated that the Council of the Committee has information concerning numerous attempts from abroad to interfere in Russia’s Presidential Elections. Presidential Elections were held in the Russian Federation on March 18, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s annexation of the Crimea.
As RIA Novosti reports, according to Chairman of the Federation Council's Commission on the Protection of State Sovereignty, the issue is about calls to boycott voting, DDoS-attacks on information resources on the Central Electoral Commission, and information attacks. "We counted about 10 types of interference,” Klimov said. He later added that he could provide thousands of facts that pointed to fragmented interference.
"Obstructions of voting in Ukraine can also be considered attempts to influence election outcomes,” Klimov stated. He said that about sixty-five thousand Russians could not cast their vote because of the actions of Ukrainian authorities.
Klimov announced that on April 3, the Commission will hold a round table with the participation of experts where they will analyze the attempts to interfere in the Russian elections. He said that by early May, the Upper House of the Council of the Federation will present a report providing facts demonstrating the attempts to interfere in the Presidential Elections.
Earlier, the President of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseevsky informed video broadcasting portals and the Central Electoral Commission about "dozens of hacker attacks." However, he did not provide any details about the said attacks.
According to the data of the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation, President-Elect Vladimir Putin gained 76.66% of the votes. The Central Electoral Commission stated that there were no serious violations during the voting process. The Head of the Commission said Putin’s result was a record win.
Ukraine and the West do not recognize the voting conducted on the annexed peninsula . Mustafa Dzhemilev, Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for the Affairs of the Crimean Tatars stated that the election turnout in the Crimea was fabricated and only about 10% of Crimean Tatars, mostly state employees, participated in the illegal elections.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine sent a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry concerning the election of the president of Russia in the territory of the annexed Crimea. Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov stated that except for diplomats, Russian citizens would not be allowed to enter the territory of Russian diplomatic institutions to participate in the election.
On election day, in the territory of Ukraine, representatives of nationalist movements also obstructed the voting in Consulates of the Russian Federation.