The Russian embassy in the US said on Friday that Washington was meddling in Russia’s internal affairs by calling elections in the occupied areas of Ukraine that Moscow now considers Russian “illegitimate”, the RIA news agency reported.

Russia is holding regional elections this week, including in the four Ukrainian regions it partly controls.

Russia bans entry to Biden’s siblings, US senators

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday: “Russia’s sham elections in occupied areas of Ukraine are illegitimate”.