Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the Russian non-systemic opposition agents of Western influence. She told about this on the air of the radio “Moscow speaking”.
“If people, forces are supported from abroad, are financed from abroad, pursue a policy that is beneficial to foreign countries, if they oppose national interests in favor of the interests of foreign countries – what kind of liberal-democratic forces are they? There is no need to hide behind this truly high rank, ”the diplomat said.
In her opinion, in fact, representatives of the opposition who support the sanctions of Western countries are “agents of influence.” Zakharova considered that they were pursuing the interests of other countries on the territory of Russia, while in reality “democracy means the possibility of a political process within the country.”
On March 2, the EU imposed sanctions against “high-ranking officials” of Russia due to the situation around Alexei Navalny ( founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent ). In particular, the chairman of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, director of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) Alexander Kalashnikov, head of the Russian Guard Viktor Zolotov, and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov were included in the sanctions list. They are banned from entering the EU countries, and they will not be able to keep funds in banks in EU countries.
At the same time, the United States published a list of Russians who fell under the sanctions. Among them are FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service Alexander Kalashnikov, Deputy Defense Ministers Pavel Popov and Alexei Krivoruchko, Head of the Kremlin's Internal Policy Department Andrei Yarin and others. In addition to them, the 27th Scientific Center of the Ministry of Defense, the 33rd Central Scientific Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense and the Scientific Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT) fell under the sanctions.
Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that a symmetrical response to new sanctions would soon follow.
