Russian ambassador to Washington says embassy has received threats over election

FILE PHOTO: A pedestrian walks with an umbrella outside the Embassy of the Russian Federation, near the Glover Park neighborhood of Washington, U.S., February 22, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Brenner/FILE PHOTO

(Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to the United States said on Thursday his embassy had received a number of threats in connection with the Russian presidential election this week.

"We are getting a great many provocative calls, threats," Russian news agencies quoted Ambassador Anatoly Antonov as saying on state television.

"We know that there are plans for anti-Russian acts, around our embassies and consulates, and there will be attempts to gain entry to our embassy. Not so much to disrupt the election, because that won't work, but to make things more difficult and just to spoil our mood."

Russians cast presidential election ballots for three days starting on Friday, with incumbent Vladimir Putin all but certain to win against three challengers, none of whom has criticised him.

Earlier on Thursday, Russian Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev told Tass news agency he expected large-scale hacker attacks on the infrastructure of the voting system during the election.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)