DISINFO: The West uses Russia as a testing ground for the election meddling techniques
SUMMARY
The elections held in Russia have become a testing ground for the Western methods of intervention. During the three days of voting, an unprecedented number of cyberattacks were recorded, half of them from the United States. The impression was that these elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation are generally viewed by Western forces as some kind of testing ground for debugging and testing their latest techniques, methods and technologies aimed precisely at disrupting such events. The impression was that the testing is not done by chance, the target is 2024 because these are far from the last elections that we face in the near future.
RESPONSE
Disinformation claim which appeared in the context of 2021 State Duma election.
No evidence is provided to support the claims.
In a statement to Newsweek, the US State Department called the Russian claims of meddling "baseless allegations" that were "designed to deflect attention from the real threat to the integrity of these elections."
The Russian elections are not considered free and fair. A lot of opposition candidates have been barred from participating. The European Union expressed its concern about the situation in Russia ahead of the elections and reiterated its position after.
For the first time since 1993, the OSCE did not send election observers to Russia, as the Russian authorities had put last-minute limits on the number of observers so low that it would not allow the OSCE to work in an effective and thorough manner (down from OSCE-planned 500 to Russia-allowed 60).
Read more disinformation narratives alleging that the West is interfering in Russian elections.