US indicts two RT employees for alleged Russian disinformation effort

The U.S. unsealed indictments of two Russian nationals accused of helping the news outlet RT run a $10 million operation to spread Russian narratives to American audiences.

The indictments are part of several actions the Justice Department announced on Wednesday aimed at disrupting Russian efforts to spread disinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. 

The Justice Department indicted Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, on a range of charges revolving around their effort to continue RT’s work in the U.S. after the news outlet shut down its RT America arm in 2022. 

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said RT and its employees “co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation across social media to U.S. audiences.”

U.S. officials accused the Russian government of using RT — formerly known as Russia Today — to “orchestrate an influence campaign by secretly planting and financing a content creation company on U.S. soil,” according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. 

The two alleged operatives “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,” Williams explained. 

The indictment says RT spent almost $10 million financing an unnamed Tennessee-based company that created English-language video content on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube after launching in November 2023. 

While it has not been confirmed, several reporters have used evidence in the indictments to tie the activity to Tenet Media — which has worked with multiple prominent conservative commentators. The indictment reiterates that the U.S.-based workers were deceived as part of the operation but notes that two of the unnamed American founders of the company knew their funding came from “the Russians.”

The company posted nearly 2,000 videos and drew about 16 million views on YouTube, according to the DOJ. Most of the videos focused on hot-button issues in the U.S. like immigration, inflation and more. 

Kalashnikov allegedly edited much of the content under a fake identity and directed the company’s operations, hiring employees and organizing the operation. Afanasyeva is accused of helping direct and post hundreds of videos alongside Kalashnikov.

The indictment quotes emails in several instances showing Afanasyeva pushing the company’s staff to spread narratives supporting Russian geopolitical goals. After the March terrorist attack in Moscow, she emailed the company’s staff urging them to blame the attack on Ukraine and the U.S.

Prosecutors also obtained wire transfers of $9.7 million in October 2023 sent from RT to the company. The funding was sent through shell companies in Turkey, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates.

The company never disclosed that it was being funded by RT. 

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are facing one charge of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Both are believed to be based in Russia. 

The two were also slapped with sanctions alongside eight other people and two companies, according to the Treasury Department. Rossiya Segodnya media group and five of its subsidiaries — RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik — were some of the sanctioned entities tied to the scheme. 

The Treasury Department said RT “began an effort to covertly recruit unwitting American influencers” in early 2024. 

In addition to Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, RT deputy editors-in-chief Elizaveta Yuryevna Brodskaia and Anton Sergeyvich Anisimov were sanctioned. Brodskaia is accused of reporting directly to Russian President Putin and Anisimov allegedly conducts activities on behalf of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

Another RT director, Andrey Vladimirovich Kiyashko, allegedly updates Russian government officials on RT’s operations. Brodskaia and Kiyashko allegedly worked together starting in 2023 to spread disinformation on social media platforms. 

Several other Russian nationals connected to the FSB were sanctioned for their role in disseminating RT content in the U.S. 

The sanctions also covered ANO Dialog — an entity spotlighted by the Justice Department on Wednesday for its role in the “Doppelgänger” disinformation campaign. 

The Moscow-based organization is an allegedly pivotal arm of Russia’s disinformation efforts, leveraging AI as part of the country’s campaign against U.S. political organizations. 

Some of the organization’s accounts — “Reliable Recent News” and “War on Fakes” — have been credibly linked to Russia’s disinformation efforts. The organization is also heavily involved in Russia’s work in using deepfake technology to mimic U.S. figures in fictitious content. 

The Treasury Department said that in May, several of the organization’s employees “coordinated with Russian government officials regarding the creation of bot accounts on popular social media messaging platforms for use in a misinformation campaign regarding voting locations in the U.S. 2024 election.”

RT did not respond to requests for comment but sarcastically told Fox News: "Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and RT's interference in the U.S. elections."

"We gotta earn our Kremlin paycheck somehow," the company said. "Somewhere Secretary [Hillary] Clinton is sad that it's not because of her."