Department of Justice (DOJ). Two employees of RT, Russia’s state television, for a pro-Russian influence scheme platforms. Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva accused Participating in a plan to pay an unnamed Tennessee company nearly $10 million to distribute nearly 2,000 videos (mostly disinformation and/or pro-Russian propaganda) in English. , , and . The DOJ says the videos have been viewed more than 16 million times on YouTube alone.
Attorney General Merrick Garland After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “RT’s editor-in-chief said the company had built an ‘entire empire of secret projects’ designed to shape public opinion in ‘Western audiences’.” As part of that goal, RT and its associates (including the two defendants) “performed an approximately $10 million scheme to finance and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and distribute content deemed favorable to the Russian government.”
“To carry out this scheme, the defendants directed the company to contract with US-based social media influencers to share this content and their platforms. The subject matter and content of many of the videos released by the company were often consistent with Russia’s growing interests. The U.S. internal divisions to weaken US resistance to Russia’s core interests, particularly its ongoing war in Ukraine,” Garland said.
The Tennessee company did not disclose its ties to the Russian government to the influencers or their millions of followers, Garland added. Instead, it claimed to be funded by a fictitious “private investor,” according to the DOJ.
Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both are free. However, the charges do not signal the end of the case. Galand pointed out that the investigation is ongoing.
The DOJ released the indictment amid a broader push by the government to crack down on Russian propaganda and disinformation ahead of November’s general election. In a separate action, DOJ “The Russian government and Russian-sponsored actors have waged a covert campaign to interfere and influence the outcome of our country’s elections.” .
The campaign, which Russia is said to be calling a “doppelganger,” included “the creation of websites designed to appear to American readers as if they were mainstream US news sites. The Washington Post or Fox Newsbut, in fact, they were fake sites,” Garland said. “They were full of Russian government propaganda created by the Kremlin to undermine international support for Ukraine, promote pro-Russian policies and interests, and influence voters in the United States. states and other countries.”
Meanwhile, the Treasury and State Departments have announced parallel activities. Treasury Department Russian non-profit organization ANO Dialog, which helped organize the Doppleganger campaign, along with RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and other RT employees.
Department of State RT and four other state-funded publishers. It is also offering a $10 million reward for information on foreign interference in the American election.
