Election monitoring group under fire in Russia

MOSCOW, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Russia's independent election monitoring group, Golos, says it is under fire from politicians as the country prepares to go to the polls Sunday.

Golos, which means "vote" in Russian, receives financing from the United States and European Union and has been under attack from several political parties including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has likened Golos to the biblical figure Judas, The New York Times reported Friday.

Golos Deputy Director Grigory Melkonyants said he is worried the group's 3,000 monitors could be excluded from polling stations Sunday.

"We cannot predict what will happen tomorrow, or what will happen in an hour," Melkonyants told the newspaper. "This is already an open war that they have declared on us, and the overwhelming weight is on their side."

The election monitoring group is accused of being tainted by the money it receives from the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

The Times said Russian officials have invoked the memory of the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which many people here believe was propelled by American agents.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in a speech Friday, urged citizens to vote in Sunday's elections.

"People do many really kind, right and important things not because of necessity, but out of a sense of responsibility, their heart's call and moral duty, because they understand that no one except us can make our lives better," Medvedev said, adding "direct and free elections" are one of the country's major achievements, RIA Novosti reported.