The Russian outlet is a threat to democracy, the State Department has claimed
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has accused RT and its parent company of acting as an extension of Russian intelligence and attempting to undermine democracy around the world.
Speaking at a State Department press conference on Friday, Blinken announced sanctions designations against RT parent companies Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti, accusing “individuals affiliated” and “elements within” them of allegedly attempting to interfere in the Moldovan elections.
The State Department has also sanctioned Dmitry Kiselev, Rossiya Segodnya’s director-general.
TV-Novosti was also accused of “being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, interference” in US or other foreign elections “for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly,” the Russian government.
RT is “engaged in covert influence activities… functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence,” Blinken told reporters.
According to the State Department, RT has “moved beyond being simply a media outlet and has been an entity with cyber capabilities,” which is “also engaged in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement.”
The US government claimed that “an entity with cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence” has been embedded within RT since the spring of 2023 and that RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and her deputy Anton Anisimov had “direct, witting knowledge of this enterprise.”
Another accusation leveled against RT was that Anisimov has operated a crowdfunding platform “providing material support and weaponry to Russia’s military units in Ukraine.”
The State Department claimed that RT has funded “proxy outlets” that engaged in “covert influence activity” around the world, alleging that this has happened in Africa, Germany, France, and Argentina.
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