MOSCOW, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The West aims to destabilize the situation in Russia and discredit its leadership, by using controlled media, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and various other tools, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev has said to local media.
"In its strategic documents, the West, primarily the United States and NATO, designates Russia as an enemy, which is why it forms the image of Russia as a source of security threats, as a state that does not comply with international law and moral standards," Patrushev said in an interview with the newspaper Argumenty I Fakty, published Wednesday.
According to Patrushev, the West regularly uses controlled media to discredit the leadership of Russia and erode the spiritual and moral values of the country.
The West unites and financially supports the non-systemic opposition and pro-Western Russian public associations, and selects the leaders of the protest movement committed to "democratic values and ideals of freedom," Patrushev said.
It intervenes in the Russian elections at the federal and regional levels, applies anti-Russian sanctions in economic, political and other fields, and politicizes sports, he added.
According to Patrushev, from 2015 to 2019, Russian NGOs participating in political activities officially received about 4 billion rubles (58 million U.S. dollars) from foreign sponsors.
But in reality, the amounts are much higher, as Western sponsors use various hidden financing schemes, particularly transfers through a network of intermediary organizations, which seriously complicates the proof of the direct involvement of the United States or its allies in subversive activities against Russia, Patrushev said.
To reduce the negative impact of these organizations, it is important to ensure the effective implementation of laws for the stable functioning of the political system, and the adoption of amendments to the anti-extremist legislation, he said. Enditem
