Russia boots out USAID - CNN.com September 19, 2012 -- Updated 1134 GMT (1934 HKT) Russia's President Vladimir Putin addresses supporters in Manezhnaya Square on election night, March 4, 2012. The State Department says is "extremely proud" of the work USAID did in Russia Russia says it was undermined by the U.S. Agency for International Development USAID had worked in Russia for two decades (CNN) -- Russia has thrown out the United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department said, claiming that the aid agency has undermined Russia's sovereignty. "We have recently received a decision of the Russian Government to end USAID activities there," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said this week. The United States is extremely proud of what USAID has accomplished in Russia over the last 20 years, and we will work with our partners and staff to responsibly end or transition those programs. Senior Russian officials have said that some of the agency's programs, such as some human rights groups and election monitoring, have undermined Russia's sovereignty, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti. The issue of protecting Russia's sovereignty came up several times during the run-up to Russia's presidential election this year. On election night in Moscow in March, Vladimir Putin punctuated his victory speech with a jab at foreign influence when he said: "We showed that no one can impose anything on us -- no one, nothing! We showed that our people can distinguish between the desire for renewal and political provocation that has but one goal: to destroy Russia's statehood and usurp power. In December, he blamed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for giving a "signal" to Russians protesting his rule to turn out for street demonstrations. Pakistan orders foreign aid workers to leave