Russia Asks Czechia to Step Up Security at Its Embassy During State Duma Elections

Russia has asked the Czech Republic to ensure security around its embassy building in Prague during the State Duma elections, which will take place from 18 to 20 September. This was reported to Novinky by Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Černý.

According to him, the Russian side approached Prague solely with a request to take adequate security measures around the embassy building during the voting period, calling it "standard practice."

Moscow Fears Protests

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated over the weekend that the efforts of Russia's "adversaries" would be aimed at organising extremist and protest actions intended to discredit the country, its leadership, and the electoral process itself.

According to Finnish broadcaster Yle, Moscow sent an even broader request to the authorities in Helsinki. In addition to asking for security measures, the note also demands a temporary ban on demonstrations outside the Russian embassy in the Finnish capital. The Finnish Foreign Ministry has not yet said how it intends to respond to the request.

The Moscow Times notes that Russia expects the Duma elections to primarily draw pro-Ukraine demonstrations outside its diplomatic missions abroad.

Source: novinky.cz