14 Nov 2019 20:52

State Duma commission uncovers facts of foreign interference in 17 Russian regions, about to send materials to prosecutor general

MOSCOW. Nov 14 (Interfax) - The State Duma commission on investigating foreign interference in Russian domestic affairs will send evidence to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Justice Ministry with regard to 17 Russian regions, the commission's head Vasily Piskaryov said.

"Interference cases have been uncovered in all federal districts. Apart from Moscow and St. Petersburg, such facts took place in 17 regions of our country. Specifically, this is training of so-called protest leaders," Piskaryov told reporters.

"We will submit [relevant materials] to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice for response measures to be taken," he said.

"The activity is coming from 12 European countries and surely the United States. We have spotted 50 legal entities and individuals, either foreign or Russian but working for money from abroad, which somehow influenced the domestic policy of Russian constituent parts," he said.

Piskaryov went on to explain that he saw foreign interest in what he believes to be attempts to create bases or camps where moderators, organizers, abettors and observers involved in illegal protest events are trained.

Attempts to organize those are continuing in Russian regions, Piskaryov said. The commission is planning to discuss the matter separately, he revealed. "We want this situation to be also regulated by the law," he said.

Foreign agents are collecting information to stoke religious and ethnic conflicts, he said.

"There is intense activity with regard to distorting history, especially on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War victory, the activity here has the purpose of transforming the history," he said.

Another dimension of foreign interference in Russian regions is meddling in elections, "the next-year elections this time," he said.

"We want to separately hear [reports on] the situation unfolding in North Caucasus, where there is a huge amount of foreign companies and NGOs, which are pursuing their own policy," Piskaryov said, adding that he had asked the first deputy head of the United Russia faction, Adelbi Shkhagoshev, to collect and submit information in this regard.