Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Tuesday called on Congress to disclose the names of individuals and groups that received United States funding in Russia so the countrys law enforcement agencies could investigate them.We need to request lists from the United States Congress of those who were funded by USAID in Russia, then hand these lists to the FSB, Volodin said during a parliamentary session.The Trump administration has taken steps to curtail the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which distributes billions of dollars in humanitarian aid and democracy promotion initiatives worldwide.Russias Foreign Ministry last week welcomed cost-cutting measures by former Donald Trump and Elon Musks so-called Department of Government Efficiency, calling USAID a regime-change mechanism.Volodin, a member of the ruling United Russia party, denounced USAID as a tool of pseudo-democracy that fooled half the world and claimed Russias exiled critics would now be left without foreign funding.The only real democracy left is in Russia.
Those who were funded from abroad should publicly apologize and seek penance on Red Square, he said to scattered applause from lawmakers.The political parties, public organizations and activists that left hoping theyd be funded by USAID abroad will now go cold and hungry waiting to receive something.
Theyll get nothing, Volodin said.USAID operated in Russia from 1992 until it was ordered to leave in 2012.The year Russia expelled the agency, it passed a law requiring all foreign-funded Russian NGOs engaged in political activity to register as foreign agents.The United States agency had spent more than $2.7 billion on Russia-focused humanitarian programs, with a third of that dedicated to promoting democracy.Russian officials have repeatedly accused United States -funded NGOs of orchestrating protests that led to the ouster of political leaders in Ukraine and Georgia in the mid-2000s.