Russia denies allegations of Montenegro coup involvement

The Kremlin has rubbished claims that Russia was involved in an attempt to oust the former president and prime minister of Montenegro during the country's elections last October.

Attempts were made to assassinate Milo Đukanović, as well as a takeover of the country's parliament. There had been accusations previously that Russian citizens were involved in the coup, but Sunday's claims from a Montenegrin prosecutor were the first against "Russian state bodies".

The claims were detailed in the Sunday Telegraph, citing "senior Whitehall sources".

"It is on a par with other baseless accusations toward us and our country, including hacker attacks against the entire West, meddling in the election campaigns of the majority of Western countries, the Trump administration's contacts with the Russian special services and much more," said Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.

Government spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also brushed off any accusations of meddling from Russian authorities, referring to them as "absurd".

"Day in and day out we register absurd accusations against Russia, day in and day out we deny the allegations. Among other things, we say with conviction that there cannot be any talk about official Moscow's or official Russia's involvement in some internal events in Montenegro," Peskov told the press.

The Kremlin has faced increasing allegations about its wielding of influence in other regions, most notably in the US in recent months where suspicion has been rife of secret links between US President Donald Trump and Russia.