Russia cries foul over Georgia election

“Reports of numerous offences of election legislation have been and are still coming in,” a Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.

“The presidential race was marked by a wide use of administrative resources, open pressure on opposition candidates and tight restrictions on their access to financial and media resources,” it said.

“In this situation, it is quite understandable that supporters of opposition candidates are indignant at the fact that the ex-President has in effect declared himself the winner without waiting for at least preliminary official results of voting to be announced,” it pointed out.