The United States cautions about Russia’s attempt to create uncertainty regarding election results in democratic countries worldwide.

Senior government officials stated on Friday that the U.S. is cautioning approximately 100 countries about Russian intelligence’s latest tactic to undermine democracies. This involves intensifying skepticism regarding the credibility of vote-counting and elections.

Intelligence officials have recently discovered a new strategy employed by Russia, which involves casting doubts on the credibility of democracy, in addition to their long-standing practice of openly and secretly supporting favored candidates in foreign elections.

The United States has sent a cable to its embassies in over 90 countries, stating that Russia is engaged in activities aimed at undermining trust in the fairness of elections. The Associated Press has obtained a copy of this document.

No response was received promptly after leaving a message with the Russian embassy in Washington.

Russia appears encouraged by its success in amplifying the lies by former President Donald Trump and his supporters during and after the 2020 presidential election falsely blaming widespread fraud for his loss. Those lies helped spark the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and continue to resonate to this day, contributing to the paralysis in the House of Representatives, where the Republican majority had been considering placing one of the lie’s loudest congressional proponents, Rep. Jim Jordan, in charge.

On Friday, a senior intelligence official stated during a call with reporters that Russia perceives its achievements in the United States in 2020 as a cost-effective opportunity to expand its influence globally.

The individuals on the call requested anonymity in order to freely discuss U.S. intelligence.

The cautionary message is issued ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, in which Trump is highly likely to secure his party’s nomination. Additionally, it applies to elections taking place in various other democracies, such as the European Union parliament elections scheduled for June 2024.

The U.S. has issued a warning to other countries, stating that after reviewing elections from 2020 to 2022, they have identified 11 different contests in nine nations where Russia made a deliberate attempt to weaken trust in the election results. Furthermore, they have observed similar but less significant efforts in 17 other democratic countries to amplify doubts regarding the dependability of their elections.

In the 2020 election of a European nation, according to the cable, the intelligence agency of Russia made efforts to deploy agitators indirectly. Their aim was to intimidate campaign workers, orchestrate protests on Election Day, and disrupt voting from abroad.

During the election in a South American nation, it was mentioned in the report that Russian Telegram channels spread inaccurate information about supposed fraud. Additionally, Russian trolls on various social media platforms attempted to magnify worries regarding potential instability after the election.

Officials declined to further identify the targeted countries, saying the U.S. has warned them of the attempts and wants to respect their privacy. They recommended several steps to counter the influence operations, including fact-based messaging about election security, public disclosure of efforts to undermine democracy and possible sanctions or removal of bad actors.

For a while now, the United States has accused Russia of being involved in stirring up trouble during U.S. elections. They claim that Russia orchestrated a campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump and also attempted to obtain voter registration data in Illinois during that same year.