Kremlin bashes Western media reporting on Russia & says US/UK 'pseudo-specialists' have no idea what's going on inside country
Kremlin
© Sputnik / Evgeny Odinokov
The quality of analysis in Western media regarding political processes in Russia has significantly decreased, and nowadays publications employ "pseudo-specialists" who write stories which "often have nothing to do with reality."

That's according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who was responding to an article in the Financial Times (FT) that claimed Russian security forces influence decisions taken by the head of state, President Vladimir Putin.

"To our regret, the degree of understanding of the real processes in our country has decreased," Peskov said on Friday. "We are ready to patiently explain to those who wish to know what is going on."

He also accused "Anglo-Saxon" media of "significantly lowering" the qualifications needed to become an expert on Russia, slamming them as "pseudo-specialists."

According to the FT, Putin is becoming increasingly pressured by the "siloviki," the collective name for a group of high-powered officials who came into politics through the security forces, military, or secret service.

One of the FT's sources, supposedly a senior Kremlin official, claimed that their influence has become "greater than ever" and "very hard to resist."

It is not the first time that Peskov has taken aim at Western media. Late last year, the Kremlin spokesman blasted reports in US newspapers that Ukrainian MP Andrey Derkach was a Russian agent.

"Will you ask the Russian intelligence agencies, please? Or better yet, it's just not worth reading such nonsense in the papers," he said.