(CNN) Russia's ambitions to head international police agency Interpol were dashed Wednesday after delegates chose acting head South Korean Kim Jong Yang to take the role.

Alexander Prokopchuk, a former Russian Interior Ministry official, had been expected to be elected president, but critics opposed his nomination, accusing Moscow of using Interpol's systems to target and pursue the Kremlin's political foes.

On Monday a bipartisan group of US senators released a letter saying the election of Prokopchuk would be "akin to putting a fox in charge of a henhouse."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed to the "strong" pressure on the assembly on "the eve of the election."

"It's a pity, of course, that our candidate did not win, but on the other hand, if you look at a number of statements from a number of countries on the eve of the elections impartially, then, of course, the pressure was strong, it's obvious.

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