Russia's lower house of parliament will be debating a draft law later today which, if it is adopted, means that any non-governmental organisation in Russia receiving funding from abroad and considered to be engaged in political activity, will be labelled a "foreign agent".

Vyacheslav Nikonov, an MP from the leading party and one of the authors of the bill believes Russian democracy "needs to be protected from outside influences".

"When foreign money is involved in politics, that distorts the democratic process inside the country," he told the BBC's Steve Rosenberg.

Yelena Panfilova, head of the Russian branch of Transparency International, says "this law is all about moving the blame from themselves to something else."

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