Russian president: Capitol protest arrests show US cracks down on political dissent

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the fact that American security forces arrested hundreds of people protesting the disputed 2020 election at the US Capitol on January 6 proves that Washington is cracking down on political dissent.

In an interview on Monday with NBC News ahead of his meeting with US President Joe Biden later this week, Putin said the mass arrests show that the United States targets its citizens for their political opinions.

“We have a saying: ‘Don't be mad at the mirror if you are ugly,’” Putin told the American news network. 

“It has nothing to do with you personally. But if somebody blames us for something, what I say is, 'Why don't you look at yourselves? You will see yourselves in the mirror, not us,’” the Russian president noted when challenged about his government’s actions at home. 

“Do you know that 450 individuals were arrested after entering the Congress? ... They came there with political demands,” Putin said.

The US Capitol building on January 6 this year came under attack from the thousands of supporters of former US President Donald Trump over the disputed 2020 presidential election result.

Trump claimed that the election was rigged by the Washington establishment in favor of Joe Biden, the current president.  According to recent surveys, most Republicans still believe that the election was stolen from Trump, and he is the legitimate president of the United States. 

Over half of Republicans say Trump 'true president,' Capitol riot done to make him look bad

A new poll shows that 53 percent of Republican Party voters say Donald Trump is currently the "true president" of the United States, not Joe Biden.

Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol in the hope of preventing lawmakers from certifying Biden's victory, thus overturning the outcome of the 2020 presidential election but to no avail.

Angry protesters clashed with police and tried to beat up a number of Democratic lawmakers. They also damaged some parts of the building housing both wings of Congress.  

At least five people including a US Capitol police officer had died in ensuing clashes with dozens of policemen and Trump supporters getting injured.

US authorities have arrested hundreds of protesters and FBI Director Chris Wray said last week that “serious charges” were coming against many of them. 

"This is a very ongoing investigation and there's a lot more to come," Wray said during an oversight hearing held by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on Thursday. "I would expect to see more charges — some of them maybe more serious charges."

Wray made the remarks while testifying that the FBI considered the attack an act of "domestic terrorism."

US cyberattacks claims ‘farcical’: Putin 

Elsewhere in his interview on Monday, Putin rejected US allegations that his government was behind a string of recent cyberattacks in the United States, calling the claims “farcical.”

"We have been accused of all kinds of things," Putin said.

"Election interference, cyberattacks and so on and so forth. And not once, not once, not one time, did they bother to produce any kind of evidence or proof. Just unfounded accusations,” he added.

Biden and Putin are scheduled to meet in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, following several cyberattacks that have targeted systems operated by both the US federal government and private companies. Washington claims Russian hackers are behind the crippling cyberattacks

Recently, a ransomware attack on JBS USA, the largest supplier of beef in the nation, forced all its American facilities to shut down for a day.

Last month, Colonial Pipeline, which supplies around 45 percent of the East Coast's fuel supply, shut down its operations after a ransomware attack which Washington claimed was carried out by a Russian-based group. The company chose to pay the hackers the equivalent of $4.4 million in Bitcoin to receive keys to decrypt their systems.

And, the recent hack of information technology company SolarWinds allegedly gave access to thousands of companies and government offices that used its products.

Blinken: Biden will warn Putin on future cyberattacks

The US secretary of state says Biden will tell Putin “directly and clearly” that Washington will take actions against Moscow if the ransomware attacks continue. Photo: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks next to President Joe Biden in Wilmington. (File photo by Getty Images)

The Biden administration has accused Russia of harboring hackers who it said were behind the recent attacks.

FBI Director Wray recently compared the ransomware hacks to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in which about 3,000 Americans lost their lives.

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