So, Russians are hit in elex mess: Putin

RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin “couldn’t care less” about charges of election meddling against more than a dozen of his countrymen, insisting the scheme was not a Kremlin-directed effort.

“So what if they’re Russians?” Putin told NBC’s Megyn Kelly. “There are 146 million Russians. So what? ... I don’t care. I couldn’t care less ...They do not represent the interests of the Russian state.”

Putin also derisively suggested that some of the 13 Russian nationals indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller may not be ethnically Russian.

“Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked,” he said.

Putin, who is expected to coast to victory in his reelection bid later this month, continued to cast doubt on the idea that anyone in his home country was involved in the hacking of Democratic emails or a misinformation campaign as Mueller’s probe suggests.

“Could anyone really believe that Russia, thousands of miles away ... influenced the outcome of the election?”

Mueller announced indictments against a baker’s dozen of Russians and a trio of Kremlinlinked companies last month.

The group was accused of running a sophisticated troll farm that sought to influence the election in support of Donald Trump.