US Tasks NGOs With Reducing Turnout in Russian Presidential Election - Russian Intel

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The administration of US President Joe Biden has tasked US NGOs with reducing the turnout in the Russian presidential election, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Monday.

"According to information received by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, the administration of Joe Biden sets the task for US NGOs to achieve a decrease in the turnout in the upcoming March 15-17 presidential elections in the Russian Federation," the message said.

Russian opposition Internet resources spread messages to Russian citizens to ignore the presidential election at the instigation of Washington, the SVR said.

"With the participation of leading US IT specialists, it is planned to carry out cyberattacks on the remote electronic voting system, which will make it impossible to count the votes of a significant proportion of Russian voters," the statement said.

According to Washington's calculations, the "reduction in turnout" obtained through appeals and cyberattacks will give the West a reason to question the results of the elections in Russia, the statement said.