Moscow: The West has been trying to sabotage Russian elections for a year now
A representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the West has been working for a year to disrupt the elections in this country.
The three-day Russian presidential election began on Friday. In total, 93,920 polling stations are open to Russian citizens, of which 93,644 are within the country and 269 outside it, and there are seven polling stations at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
According to TASS, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday: “Moscow’s Western opponents have been trying to disrupt the presidential elections in Russia for a year now. The West is using any means. For example, a fake information campaign. They use even hiring experts, infiltrating information systems and cyber sabotage to strike Russia, but nothing will help them."
Zakharova further noted that the unity of Russian citizens in the country's presidential elections aroused the wrath of the West, and compared the hostility and hatred of Western countries towards Russia with an infectious disease that is gradually destroying them.
Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that hackers, with the help of Western countries, are trying to disrupt the Russian presidential election process, and said that the actions of unfriendly countries do not affect the conduct of Russian presidential elections inside and outside the country.
Vladimir Putin (the current president), Nikolai Kharitonov (KPRF), Vladislav Davankov (New People's Party) and Leonid Slutsky (LDPR) are candidates in the presidential elections of this country.
114 million 212 thousand 734 people have the right to participate in the presidential elections of this country, of which 112 million 309 thousand 947 people live in Russia.
The number of Russian citizens who have the right to participate in these elections abroad is 1 million 890 thousand 863 people.
11,924 Russian citizens stationed at the Baikonur Cosmodrome will take part in the elections.
The total population of Russia as of January 1, 2023 (a little over a year ago) was about 146 million people.
With 99% of the votes counted in the Russian elections, Vladimir Putin won 87.32% of the votes.
The All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, affiliated with the Kremlin, announced on Sunday evening after the conclusion of the Russian presidential election: “Vladimir Putin is the leader of the Russian presidential candidates with 87.32% of the vote.”
Thus, 71-year-old Putin, who has been in power for the past 25 years, will serve as Russian president for another 6 years and will hold the title of the longest-serving Russian leader in the last 200 years.
Announcing the initial vote count and the decisive lead in that country's presidential election, Vladimir Putin declared that electronic voting in Russia is transparent and objective, unlike mail-in voting in the United States, and declared: "The West has entered into an armed war with Russia and naturally criticizes the election results and tried to undermine them."
The Russian President also emphasized: “One cannot doubt Russia’s democracy, while America uses the judicial system to influence the election of the Russian President.”
Russia announced on Monday that it would send a diplomatic note to Washington protesting the actions of the US Secret Service during the Russian presidential election.
The TASS news agency quoted the Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, as saying: “US Secret Service officers “blocked the entrance to the Russian embassy and created obstacles for Russian citizens who came to vote.”
The Russian presidential elections ended yesterday, Sunday, and, according to VTsIOM, 75% of eligible voters took part in the elections.
