The ex-NATO representative in Moscow harshly besieged the propagandist who declared Putin’s illegitimacy
The Russian presidential elections were held with a huge turnout of the population, including in foreign polls, which suggests that Russians trust Vladimir Putin and support his course.
Former NATO representative to Russia Harry Tabakh stated this on the Politeka internet channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Tabakh had a heated argument with on-air propagandist Anastasia Gusareva, who tried to convince him that the elections were rigged.
“The fact that these were pseudo-elections – well, how can I tell you. If you look at it through my eyes, through the eyes of an ordinary American, even in the West there were huge queues, and no protests, no flags, no hats. People stood and waited for hours, the turnout was huge... If they voted against, then why was there no protest, why did no one say anything. There are many videos where people go, both in Israel and in Spain, saying: “Who is against Putin?” No, everyone stands and says: “Get out of here.”
That is, they stood to vote for Putin. It’s the same in Poland - one Vainakh, a Chechen, is running around with the flag of Ukraine and Ichkeria and says: “You are sheep, lined up,” and that’s all. The turnout is huge. If the turnout is huge, it means trust in the authorities,” Tabakh noted.
"Not necessarily. We can't talk about that because no international companies were allowed in. We've seen numerous videos of ballots being stuffed into ballot boxes in batches. We've seen videos of ink disappearing under the influence of heat. We've seen soldiers with machine guns entering secret voting booths and giving instructions to people. This is all evidence that this is election fraud," Gusareva argued.
“No, Anastasia. Firstly, if you invited me to your channel, I can talk about what I want.
If we can't talk about it, then why are you asking me? What you are saying was that there were violations, but that does not indicate... You may not agree with me, but if you want to listen to me, then listen to me - you cannot tell me: “We cannot talk about this,” – Tabakh was indignant.
"We can't say there were no falsifications. The whole world is saying there were," the propagandist interrupted.
“What is the whole world? I’ll tell you this - there were falsifications in our elections, in the United States of America, falsifications in elections can happen everywhere, in any country, including yours. There may be falsifications and there may be violations, but it is impossible to say that these elections were completely falsified, there is no such thing. When there is a large turnout at elections, it shows that you trust the authorities, that there will be a count, that they will speak out, that your vote counts.
And if there was no turnout, then you could say that no one trusts the system, because the system is not working... I am an average American, and I have an association with Americans who say: “The turnout was huge.” If the turnout is huge, it means the system is working,” Tabakh snapped.
NATO's former Moscow envoy harshly rebuked a propagandist who claimed Putin was illegitimate.