- September 14, 2024
- 12:16 pm
- World News
The United States has imposed new sanctions against the Russian media company Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries, including RT, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a briefing on September 13.
He cited new US government evidence that RT is involved in covert influence operations around the world.
“These Kremlin-backed media companies not only play a covert role in undermining democracy in the United States, but also in interfering in the sovereign affairs of other countries. Thanks to new information, much of it from RT employees, we know that RT has cyber capabilities and is involved in covert information influence operations and military procurement,” he said.
In particular, according to Blinken, the Russian government in the spring of 2023 created a unit within RT with cyber capabilities and connections to Russian intelligence.
“The information this unit receives is fed to Russian intelligence services, Russian media, mercenary groups and other proxies of the Russian government. One of its projects is a major online fundraising campaign in Russia, which operates through RT and social media channels to provide support and military equipment to Russian military units in Ukraine.”
The list of purchased goods includes sniper rifles, silencers, body armor, night vision devices, drones, diesel generators, the Secretary of State specified.
Blinken also pointed to RT’s information operations around the world: In Germany, the Russian company covertly operates the English-language platform Red, the successor to the now-defunct Redfish. RT also covertly operates the online social media platform African Stream.
“According to its website, it is a pan-African media organization based exclusively on social media, focused on giving a voice to all Africans at home and abroad. In reality, the only voice it gives a voice to is that of the Kremlin's propagandists,” Blinken said.
He also said that RT coordinated its actions with the Russian government to influence elections in Moldova, including in October 2024. The Secretary of State suggested that the purpose of the operation was to incite protests in that country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs today imposes sanctions against three entities and two individuals over Russia's global covert influence operation, including interference in the democratic process and future elections in Moldova.
According to the Department, the sanctions apply to:
— Russian state news agency “Russia Today”
— non-profit organization TV-Novosti, as an “organization with federal funding, associated with Russia Today”
— General Director of Russia Today Dmitry Kiselev
— non-profit organization “Eurasia”
– its founder Nelly Parutenko
According to the diplomatic department, Eurasia and Parutenko are responsible for a “scheme to support malicious information efforts” under the sanctions of the Moldovan Shor party.
On September 4, the United States imposed sanctions on Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Russian state media network RT, and nine others in connection with their attempts to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Two RT employees, Konstantin Kalashnikov and Olena Afanasyeva, were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating the U.S. Foreign Agents Act.
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