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A social media post from the Australian embassy in Moscow sparked opposition from the Russian government, which called it interference in its internal affairs.
Russian authorities say they have summoned a diplomat from the Australian embassy in Moscow over a social media post criticizing the holding of Russian presidential elections in occupied areas of Ukraine.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that a message from the Australian embassy on the Telegram platform questioned “the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation” and contained “deliberately false information about voting in several Russian regions during the presidential election.” on March 15-17.
Australia’s Chargé d’Affaires was told that the online post was considered to be interfering in the country’s internal affairs, according to the Russian statement, demanding that he remove the message and take steps to ensure such incidents do not occur again.
A social media post from the Australian embassy in Moscow has sparked opposition from the Russian government.
The Australian embassy posted a message in Russian on Telegram on March 19 saying that Australia is “aware that the Russian government conducted fake elections in Ukrainian territories, reflecting its continued efforts to undermine sovereignty, territorial integrity and the political independence of Ukraine”.
The post continued: “Australia rejects the result of these sham elections and again calls on Russia to immediately withdraw from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine.”
The Russian presidential election, which election officials say President Vladimir Putin won with more than 87 percent of the vote, took place in parts of Ukraine that Russia says it has annexed, including Crimea and parts of four regions it seized. took over after their 2022 invasion.