Russian officials have summoned a top Australian diplomat in Moscow for a please explain over a social media post describing the country’s presidential election as a “flagrant violation of international law”.
A statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website revealed chargé d’affaires Jeremy Guthrie had been “summoned” on Friday so it could lodge “a strong protest”.
A chargé d’affaires is the representative of an ambassador while they are away from their country of accreditation.Â
Russia’s presidential election was held from Match 15 to 17 and incumbent Vladimir Putin won with almost 90 per cent of the vote, although many experts said it was rigged.
During the election, the Australian embassy in Moscow’s official Telegram account posted a statement saying the fact the vote was also being conducted in parts of Ukraine that Russia had annexed was a “violation of international law”.
Telegram is an encrypted messaging service used widely in Russia.
The post also said Australia “strongly condemns” Russia’s efforts to “annex foreign territory and deprive Ukrainian citizens of their fundamental rights”.
Western leaders and governments reiterated similar messages during and after Russia’s election.
Russia has occupied large parts of southern Ukraine since its invasion began in 2022. It also controls the Crimean Peninsula which it annexed in 2014.
Russia’s foreign ministry described the post as “deliberately false”.
“The Australian diplomat was told that the above-mentioned actions of the diplomatic mission were regarded as interference in the internal affairs of our country,” it said in a statement.
It also demanded the post be removed — something that has not happened — and that Australia’s embassy “take steps to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again”.
Subsequent posts on the Australian embassy’s Telegram account have also been critical of the election.Â
One said: “Australia is deeply concerned by the deliberate exclusion of genuine opposition candidates from the electoral process, the lack of independent and impartial observers, credible reports of voter coercion and unlawful detention, and evidence of electoral fraud and manipulation.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong described the vote as “an insult to democracy” — words that were also reposted in Russian on the embassy’s Telegram account, which was created in February this year.
“Australia stands by its statement and its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told the ABC.Â
Posted , updatedÂ