Oleg Davygora22:48, 13.09.24

US authorities have accused the Russia Today media group and the RT television channel of working for Russian intelligence.

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions against the media group Rossiya Segodnya and its general director, propagandist Dmitry Kiselev. 

According to the list of updates on  the OFAC website (the US Treasury Department department responsible for sanctions), sanctions were imposed on September 13 against the autonomous non-profit organization (ANO) “TV Novosti” (this is the official name of RT propagandists), ANO “Eurasia” and FSUE MIA “Russia Today”. Of the individuals, the sanctions included propagandist and CEO of “Russia Today” Dmitry Kiselev, as well as Russian and Moldovan citizen Nelly Parutenko, who heads ANO “Eurasia”.

According to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the media group “Russia Today”, which includes a number of Russian propaganda media outlets, including RIA Novosti, Sputnik and Russia Today, not only spreads Russian propaganda, but also acts as a division of Russian intelligence.

Blinken specifically noted that RT has been involved in influence operations in various countries around the world, including the creation of fake media outlets in Germany and African countries, as well as an attempt to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections in Moldova.

On the Russian side, only the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has responded to the State Department’s statement so far.

“I think a new profession should appear in the US – a specialist in sanctions imposed against Russia. Someone should at least make sure that sanctions are not repeated. Otherwise, they have already gone round and round with RT,” she wrote on her Telegram channel.

Sanctions against Russian propagandists

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has designated 10 individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Moscow’s efforts to malign influence in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 

It is noted that, beginning in early 2024, RT executives began an even more nefarious effort to covertly recruit unwitting American influencers to support their malign influence campaign. 

(C)UNIAN 2024