The Russian intelligence services accused the European Union (EU) and "prominent European countries" this Monday of having launched a "large-scale strategy" aimed at "destabilizing" the internal situation of the country ahead of the legislative elections scheduled between September 18 and 20.
In a statement, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) claimed that "the so-called European defenders of law and democracy," which it does not explicitly identify, "have set themselves a double objective: to disrupt the normal electoral process and to discredit the results of the voting at all levels of the electoral campaign."
The SVR maintained that at the Volunteer Coalition summit held on July 13, "calls from Europeans to the Kiev regime to increase its sabotage and terrorist attacks" against Russia were included, in addition to "discussions on plans for cyberattacks against electoral infrastructure" on Russian territory.
According to the agency, "the dissemination of theses about the 'illegitimacy and illegality' of the voting, which has not even taken place, has been entrusted to foreign structures of the Russian opposition that are not part of the system," and even pointed out "financial backing" to some of these platforms in order to "actively urge Russians to boycott the elections and the international community to reject the recognition of the results in advance."
In this line, it claimed to have data indicating that the European Parliament "is preparing to issue statements declaring that it does not recognize the electoral results in Russia due to 'serious violations during their preparation and celebration,'" although it emphasized that this will not prevent "Russian citizens from choosing."
The SVR concluded by stating that "Russia knows how to counterattack, not only against the aggressors on the external front but also against their futile attempts to undermine our country from within," in the face of the elections in which the 450 seats of the State Duma, the lower house of the parliament of the Eurasian country, will be decided.