Russians have played absolutely no role in shaping the outcome of the recent Russian election, international observers say.
Despite previous findings that Russians had interfered with the US and French elections, as well as the Brexit vote, an analysis by UN election observers found no evidence to suggest Russians had played a role in Russia’s March election.
“It would be tempting to conclude that, just because Russians shape other elections, that they also shape their own. But any reports that Russians played a role in the outcome of this election have been grossly exaggerated,” a spokesperson for the enquiry said.
Reports suggest that over 50 million people did attempt to vote, but Russian officials managed to intercept the interference before it had any impact.
“We made sure that there wasn’t anybody trying to maliciously influence the pre-determined outcome of this democratic election,” a Russian spokesperson said. “We pride ourselves on running free and fair elections. You’re free to vote for anyone named Vladimir Putin, which is only fair”
