Following the 2009 regional parliamentary elections, Gryzlov stated in response to criticism of electoral violations: "Corruption and legal nihilism, inherent to Russian mentality, should not be shifted onto "United Russia" party". Representatives of the nationalist Movement Against Illegal Immigration responded by telling the press that they were offended by such comments. The nationalists attempted to file charges against Gryzlov for belittling the Russian people under the same article used to prosecute nationalists for incitement to inter-ethnic violence, but these allegations were rejected by the prosecutor general.