U.S. targets Russia over 2024 election influence operation
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced sanctions targeting Russian government-backed efforts to manipulate American opinion leading up to the 2024 election.
Those alleged efforts include the use of RT, the English-language media network backed by Russia, to influence U.S. opinion.
Senior editors at RT were targeted in Wednesday’s actions, and two RT employees were indicted in Manhattan federal court for allegedly covertly funding and directing an American company that published thousands of videos to further Russian interests, the Department of Justice announced.
Those employees, Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, remain at large. They are accused of deploying nearly $10 million to publish the RT-curated content through a Tennessee company.
The DOJ said it was seizing 32 Internet domains “used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as ‘Doppelganger,’ in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws.”