The political scientist stated about the attempts of information attacks by the West on the electoral process

Western countries are trying to carry out information attacks on the electoral process in Russia. This was announced on September 14 by Vladimir Shapovalov, Associate Professor of the Department of Comparative Political Science at MGIMO, member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation.

According to the expert, the authorities and civil society institutions record high activity of foreign structures aimed at destabilizing domestic politics.

Shapovalov presented the conclusions of an analytical report on technologies for interfering in the 2026 elections. He noted that information attacks have become part of a complex Western war against Russia, the purpose of which is to impose someone else's political will and form negative sentiments in society.

"There has been a qualitative evolution of the West's position from criticism of procedural issues and accusations of a departure from the democratic standard to an open struggle against Russia. ""The goal is the destruction of Russia's political system, its maximum military, political and economic weakening," the political scientist said during the round table of the EISI "EDG — 2026: the finish line" in MIA "Russia Today".

The expert described a technological chain of external influence that includes Western politicians and the media as customers, the Kiev regime, foreign agents and remnants of the "fifth column". ""According to him, six months before the elections, special structures were created in the West, such as the PACE "democratic platform" and the "European Dialogue", designed to broadcast anti-Russian narratives.

Shapovalov stressed that information attacks focus not only on the voting procedure, but also on sensitive social topics, including the consequences of attacks on infrastructure, prices and tax policy. During the voting process itself, cyber attacks on the digital infrastructure of the elections, fake news using artificial intelligence, and attempts at provocations at polling stations, including abroad, are expected.

Foreign campaign: Russia expects record number of cyber attacks during elections

To verify the DEG system, the authorities will conduct nationwide testing on September 9-10.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on August 22 that Western attempts to disrupt the September State Duma elections would increase, but their success was zero. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on Russians abroad not to succumb to provocations before the State Duma elections. She added that there is a high probability that Russia's enemies abroad will carry out extremist and protest actions.

In September, Russians will vote in the State Duma elections. The CEC of Russia has registered 4,436 candidates for voting on federal lists and single-mandate constituencies. "United Russia" party has the largest number of representatives — 389. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is represented by 329 candidates, "New People" — 295, LDPR — 234.