On all sides Russia is surrounded by enemies. After destabilization of the Middle East and the Ukrainian revolution, the aggressive West, dreaming of the overthrow of the Kremlin. Never before since the return of Vladimir Putin to Supreme power in 2012, this symptom is besieged fortress — resistant feature of the Russian and Soviet policy has never been expressed with such force and unity.
On Thursday, the main representatives of security agencies, diplomats and legislative bodies of Russia, as well as government members and politicians gathered in the Federation Council to speak out against the “intervention of destructive forces in the country.” The meeting was organized after the disappointing meetings of Vladimir Putin with his counterparts from France and Germany, on the eve of crucial hearings in Congress about alleged role of Moscow in the election campaign in the United States, and in anticipation of the “electoral cycle”, during which Putin will qualify for a fourth mandate, although its position is weakened by the people’s protests and a sluggish economy.
The Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko introduces a whole Arsenal of tools that were used against Russia: “the organization of information attacks, funding anti-government political forces use the theme of protecting human rights for the purposes of the political struggle, the establishment of an interreligious and international conflicts, the escalation of protest”. Matviyenko called it anti-Russian hysteria, which aimed to “weaken our country and its independent foreign policy, whose influence is growing throughout the world.” In turn, the head of the Russian foreign intelligence service Sergey Naryshkin has accused the us government agencies in the conduct of economic warfare against Russia.
After the meeting, held behind closed doors, the senators announced the creation of the Commission on combating foreign intervention, to monitor hostile activity by foreign States and organizations and the preparation of an appropriate legislative framework. The main victims of the law will become undesirable NGOs, and access to their sites may be blocked by the decision of the Prosecutor’s office. “Russian media with foreign funding needs to refrain from any interference in the Russian policy”,— said the Minister of communications Nikolay Nikiforov. Thursday daily independent newspaper “Vedomosti” was published with the title “Russian McCarthyism”.
Here for a week Moscow is under cross-fire of news and forced on the eve of a congressional hearing to refute the charges of interference made by the us intelligence. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Kremlin was forced to refute the information of two American media. One source accused the Russian special services in the breaking part of the electoral system of America, the other for inciting the split between the monarchies of the Persian Gulf with the help of a cyber attack against the official news Agency of Qatar. “We are tired to respond to the same unsubstantiated accusations,” said Andrew Krutskih Putin’s adviser on cyber security. The Chairman of the foreign policy Council Fyodor Lukyanov accused the American elite to “use Russia to their own purposes”.
The tense atmosphere during the joint press conference of Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron at Versailles, which took place after a friendly meeting with Angela Merkel, only reinforce the impression that the normalization of relations with Europe remains a distant prospect. In the absence of public reaction to Putin’s attacks Macron Russian media Russia today and Sputnik, the journalist Galina Timchenko sees the possibility of asymmetric response. It seems that the time has come. “With the measures announced, the Senate warns the West that when you criticize Russia and close to Russia Today, then we will take our citizens, and it will not go unnoticed”, — said Chairman of the NGO “memorial” Oleg Orlov. His organization is already in the list of foreign agents. Eagles afraid that Russian society has not become a “hostage” of the conflict between Russia and the West.
Prosecutor General Yury Chaika, who already controls 73 non-profit organizations, 10 of which are considered undesirable in 2015 because they “fabricate a revolutionary scenario and form a political force controlled by the West.” Protest on 26 March, which brought to the streets thousands of young people, paralyzed the Kremlin. Valentina Matvienko has called for tighter legislation against those who are trying to use youth and children in their protest goals. It denies the fact of “crackdown”, but other ideologues warn that Russia is engaged in a long conflict with the West.
