US indictments, sanctions target Russian propaganda network
The US Department of Justice on Sept. 4 announced the seizure of 32 internet domains linked to an alleged Russian government-backed disinformation campaign aimed at influencing US and global audiences. According to the DoJ, the operation, known as "Doppelganger," sought to sway public opinion in favor of Russian interests and interfere in the 2024 US presidential election. The campaign was allegedly orchestrated by several Russian organizations under the supervision of Sergei Kiriyenko, a senior official in the Russian Presidential Administration. These organizations utilized the domains to distribute pro-Russian propaganda and undermine support for Ukraine. The operation used deceptive methods that violated US "money laundering and criminal trademark law."
Announcing the seizures, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said:
An internal planning document created by the Kremlin states that a goal of the campaign is to secure Russia’s preferred outcome in the election. The sites we are seizing today were filled with Russian government propaganda that had been created by the Kremlin to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies and interests, and influence voters in the United States and other countries. Our actions today make clear that the Justice Department will be aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by the Russian government, or any other malign actor, to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.
In conjunction with the DoJ seizures, the US Treasury Department announced it had imposed new sanctions against 10 individuals and two organizations linked to Doppelganger. The individuals designated for sanctions included Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of Russian state news broadcaster RT.
Separately that day, the DoJ announced the indictment of two employees of RT. The individuals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, are accused of having directed nearly $10 million to create and distribute Russian propaganda for a US audience. Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are accused of having financed a Tennessee-based content-creation company which in turn posted nearly 2,000 videos "curated" by RT, generating some 16 million views on YouTube. The videos were also posted across TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Many of the videos focused on contentious issues for US voters, such as immigration and inflation.
US Attorney Damian Williams described the alleged influence scheme in a statement:
The instruments of the scheme were RT employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, who managed the operation from Moscow using fake personas and shell companies, and the victims of the scheme were the American people, who received Russian messaging without knowing it.
History holds no shortage of examples of efforts by nations to interfere with other nations' internal and electoral processes, often with the use of propaganda and targeted information or disinformation campaigns. Russian government-backed actors have long been accused of orchestrating disinformation campaigns on social media and other online platforms aimed at sowing discord, manipulating political debates, and exploiting divisions within US society. These allegations feature prominently in a trial that began this week in Florida against four American socialist activists accused of disseminating Russian propaganda at the Kremlin’s behest.
From Jurist, Sept. 4. Used with permission.
Note: Sergei Kiriyenko, now deputy chief of staff for the Russian Presidential Administration, is a former prime minister and also served as head of the Federal Nuclear Power Agency.
See our last reports on the politics of RT, Russian interference in US elections, and our podcast, "Can Russia foment civil war in the US?"
Media firm abruptly folds after Russia scheme exposed
The unnamed Tennessee-based company that the Justice Department says was being funded by Russian operatives is revealed in the press as Tenet Media, and it as apparently closed shop since the indictment, wit its material pured from YouTube. The company's founders, Canadian Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovon, have not yet commented publicly on the scandal. (TNR, CNN)
Trump adviser charged in Russian propaganda effort
The US Department of Justice announced on Sept. 5 that charges have been filed against Dimitri Simes, a Russian-born US citizen and former adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Simes is accused of working for a sanctioned Russian state television network and laundering the proceeds from his involvement.
The first indictment alleges that Simes and his wife took part in a scheme to help Channel One Russia to bypass sanctions implemented by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on May 8, 2022, for being under the control of or acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The indictment also alleges that the couple laundered more than $1 million and received perks, including a personal car and driver for their work with Russia’s Channel One, beginning in June 2022.
The second indictment accuses Anastasia Simes, Dimitri’s wife, of participating in a scheme to violate US sanctions for the benefit of sanctioned Russian oligarch Aleksandr Yevgenyevich Udodov. (Jurist)
More sanctions on RT for 'covert operations'
US authorities on Sept. 13 announced new sanctions against RT amid accusations that the state-run media conglomerate has engaged in "covert influence" operations and election interference on a global scale.
"RT moved beyond being simply a media outlet and has been an entity with cyber capabilities. It is also engaged in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement. These operations are targeting countries around the world, including in Europe, Africa, and North and South America," the State Department alleged.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke in depth about the allegations during a press conference:
Earlier this month, RT’s editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan, was also designated for sanctions over accusations of malign influence operations in the US.
The new sanctions apply to several organizations and individuals linked to RT, including Rossiya Segodnya, a news conglomerate established in 2013 in what was broadly seen as a bid by Vladimir Putin to strengthen his grip on the Russian media following large-scale protests challenging his authoritarian rule. In December 2013, the Kremlin liquidated news giant RIA Novosti without warning following the decades-old agency providing coverage of the protests, political arrests and trials of opposition activists. Rossiya Segodnya—a transliteration of the Russian translation of Russia Today, RT's original name—was hastily erected in its stead, with Simonyan tapped to serve as editor-in-chief. Placed at its helm as director general was Dmitry Kiselev, a firebrand talk-show host known for advocating for the destruction of the bodies of LGBTQ+ people to prevent organ donation after their deaths, as well as the destruction of the US by nuclear weapons.
Kiselev was also included in the new sanctions, as was TV-Novosti, which controls RT.
The new sanctions follow allegations that RT personnel provided direct support to Ilan Shor, a US-sanctioned Moldovan oligarch, in an attempt to influence Moldova's October presidential election. The Treasury Department also sanctioned the organization ANO Evraziya and its general director, Nelli Parutenko, for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to funnel money into Moldova to buy votes and support pro-Kremlin candidates.
The sanctions freeze any US assets of those targeted and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.
In an article posted as breaking news to its English-language website, RT quoted its own press office as having responded to the new sanctions with sarcasm: "We've been broadcasting straight out of the KGB headquarters all this time." The press office added: "We're running out of popcorn to sit and watch what the US government will come up with next about us." (Jurist)