Russia Accuses U.S. of ‘Direct Interference’ in its Elections

In a truly surreal statement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova is accusing the U.S. of “direct interference in our electoral process and internal affairs” over State Department criticism of the Russian decision to bar an opponent of Vladimir Putin from running against him in the country’s March presidential election. The State Department had expressed concern over the Kremlin’s “ongoing crackdown against independent voices, from journalists to civil society activists and opposition politicians.” Zakharova took to Facebook on Tuesday to lash out against such criticism, asking: “And these people expressed outrage over alleged Russian ‘interference’ in their electoral process for an entire year?!” She added, “The funniest thing is that these are the same people who just tagged RT and Sputnik as foreign agents, who are harassing Russian media around the world and who are investing huge amounts of money into ‘countering Russian propaganda,’ which is how they label anyone who they disagree with.”