Moscow’s Western opponents actively tried over the past year to disrupt the Russian presidential election, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Saturday.

"Our opponents stirred up not just a week or a month ago. It seems to me that over the past year they did everything to either disrupt the presidential election or prevent it from being held or distort the conception of the elections in different ways," the diplomat said.

The West has organized misinformation campaigns and influence in the cyber sphere: from spreading the corresponding content to blocking the apps of Russian organizations on digital platforms, which is also "a very serious element of influence," she pointed out.

The West also used paid opposition that turned out to be "agents of influence and simply hirelings," Zakharova explained.