The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has indicted two employees of Russian state media group RT (formerly known as Russia Today), after alleging they paid a Tennessee-based content company $10m to post disinformation which garnered millions of views.
Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, (aka Kostya), and Elena Afanasyeva, 27 (aka Lena) were charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
They’re said to have paid millions to the US content firm, identified in reports as right-wing site Tenet Media, to post fallacious content described as “Russian propaganda” across TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube and other social media sites.
Tenet Media Funded Via Shell Companies
Since publicly launching in November 2023, the firm posted nearly 2000 videos garnering more than 16 million views on YouTube. Many apparently contained commentary on divisive events and issues such as immigration and inflation, with the reported aim of helping Donald Trump return to the White House.
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The RT duo apparently operated under covert identities (Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti), with Kalashnikov – posing as an external editor – editing the US firm’s content and monitoring funding and hiring. Afanasyeva posted and directed the posting of hundreds of videos by the firm, for example, instructing its staff to blame Ukraine for an ISIS terrorist attack on a Moscow music venue.
The $9.7m they sent the US content company between October 2023 and August 2024 was routed via shell companies in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Mauritius, and in some cases falsely described as for electronic purchases, the DoJ said.
“Covert attempts to sow division and trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda represents attacks on our democracy,” said FBI director Christopher Wray.
“Today’s actions show that as long as foreign adversaries like Russia keep engaging in hostile influence campaigns, they are going to keep running into the FBI. We will continue to do everything we can to expose the hidden hand of foreign adversaries like Russia and disrupt their efforts to meddle in our free and open society.”
Doppelgänger-Related Domains Taken Down
Aside from the indictment, the US seized 32 internet domains used by Russia to spread propaganda and weaken support for Ukraine, in a disinformation campaign known as 'Doppelgänger.' The news sites hosted on these domains were apparently created to spoof authentic sites.
The Biden administration also announced visa restrictions on Russian state-owned media employees, and sanctions against the firms suspected of creating fake websites and social media profiles to spread Kremlin disinformation.
The State Department has offered $10m in exchange for information on foreign efforts to influence US elections.
The sweeping US government action against Russian disinformation efforts comes at a critical juncture in the run-up to the presidential election, with the shadow of 2016 – when Russian hackers interfered in Donald Trump’s favor – looming large.
Read more: Russia’s DoppelGänger Campaign Manipulates Social Media