The media outlet stated that RISS circulated two "confidential documents" ahead of the vote: the first allegedly recommended that the Kremlin initiate a propaganda campaign on social media and that Russia's state-run media persuade US citizens to vote for a candidate less critical to Russia than former US President Barack Obama.
According to Reuters, RT, Sputnik, and other media should have been allegedly working to improve Trump's image.
Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Russian political scientist Dr. Alexander Gusev called the allegations ludicrous.
"It sounds laughable that a small institution [RISS] could influence the outcome of the elections in the US," Gusev stressed.
"The head of the Pentagon, James Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were almost foaming at the mouth when arguing in the US Congress that Russia is an "evil empire", as President of the United States Ronald Reagan said in the 1980s," he said.
"They alluded to cyber-attacks, which were allegedly committed by Russian hackers to break into the servers of the Pentagon, the State Department and so on. All these [allegations] are sheer disinformation which has one goal: to exert an influence on ordinary Americans," Gusev told Radio Sputnik.
What the Russian scholars are being accused of is impossible even in theory, the political scientist stressed.
"In no way could research scholars influence the outcome of [the presidential] elections of the largest global power," Gusev said.
"This could not be possible even in theory. Yes, we closely monitor what is happening in the US. But to influence these processes is incredibly difficult — I tell you that as a political strategist who has been engaged in election campaigns for the last 30 years. And it is simply impossible for such a small organization as RISS [to influence the outcome of the US elections]," the Russian political scientist explained.
Commenting on the issue, Margarita Simonyan, the Editor-in-Chief of the Sputnik news agency and the RT broadcaster, suggested giving Reuters the Oscar for the "best script."
"Western journalism has hit a new low: Reuters writes that it knows seven guys who swear blind that they saw a secret Russian report with their own eyes, even two reports. Give Reuters the Oscar for the best script, they deserve it," Simonyan said.
Mikhail Fradkov, Director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies (RISS) earlier refuted the accusations made against the think tank.
"It looks like those behind the publication in their conspiratorial minds substituted reality with their own fantasies in order to attract public opinion to the issue of Russia's 'participation' in the US pre-election campaign, which is leaving the public spotlight. The attempt to involve RISS as an accomplice is pure failure," Fradkov said in an official statement published on the think tank's website.
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