ULYANOVSK. March 21 (Interfax) - Foreign special services are attempting to stoke protest and separatist sentiment in Russia, which is happening with the help of "pseudo-political entities" based in foreign countries , as well as foreign non-governmental organizations, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
"Protest and separatist sentiments are fueled under the general guidance of foreign special services. Organizers of protest actions use anonymous channels of the Telegram and WhatsApp messaging systems to make active attempts to destabilize the situation in Russian regions," Patrushev said at a meeting on national security in Ulyanovsk on Tuesday.
"Certain extremist pseudo-political entities, whose leaders are calling from foreign countries for a change of political authorities and the country's division, back this agenda. Apart from that, foreign non-governmental and non-profit organizations and Western-controlled media are actively engaged in manipulating the public consciousness," he said.
"The collective West led by the U.S. unleashed a largescale smearing campaign to discredit our country, directly calling for liquidating Russian statehood," Patrushev said.