Justice Dept. Disrupts Russian Influence Campaign, Indicts Russian Nationals

On Sept. 4, the Justice Department announced that it seized 32 internet domains used by the Russian government to conduct foreign malign influence campaigns targeting voters in U.S. and foreign elections, including the upcoming 2024 U.S. presidential election. At the direction of the Russian Presidential Administration, the operation—known as “Doppelganger”—relied on influencers, artificial intelligence-created content, and social media accounts to covertly drive internet traffic to these domains to spread Russian government propaganda.

According to a signed affidavit released by the department, the propaganda planted on these domains and elsewhere was, “designed to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster pro-Russian policies, and influence voters in U.S. and foreign elections by posing as citizens of those countries, impersonating legitimate news outlets, and peddling Russian government propaganda under the guise of independent media brands.”

In addition to the Justice Department’s domain seizures, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets control announced that it had designated “10 individuals and two entities as part of a coordinated U.S. government response to Moscow’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”

Those added to the Specifically Designated Nationals (SDN) List include Elena Mikhaylovna Afanasyeva, an employee of RT’s—a Russian-state funded and controlled news outlet—Digital Media Projects Department; Anton Sergeyvich Anisimov, an RT deputy editor-in-chief; Elizaveta Yuryevna Brodskaia, another RT deputy editor-in-chief; Aleksey Alekseyevich Garashchenko, head of the pro-Kremlin “hacktivist” group RaHDit; Konstantin Kalashnikov, RT’s digital media projects manager; Andrey Vladimirovich Kiyashko, the deputy director of the RT English-Language Information Broadcasting; Aleksandr Vitalyevich Nezhentsev, an administrator and developer of cyber tools used by the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB); Margarita Simonovna Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT; Vladimir Grigoryevich Tabak, the director general of Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (ANO) Dialog and its subsidiary organization ANO Dialog Regions (ANO Dialog is a Moscow-city funded non-profit that, according to OFAC, “leverages AI technology in online Russian disinformation for use against election campaigns”); and Anastasia Igorevna Yermoshkina, an affiliate of Garashchenko. ANO Dialog and ANO Dialog Regions are the two entities added to OFAC’s SDN List.

In its announcement of the designations, the Treasury Department emphasized that,

As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.
In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with the sanctioned persons may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action.

The Justice Department also announced its indictment of Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva on charges of “conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering” in the Southern District of New York. According to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the two RT employees deployed approximately $10 million—using shell companies and fake personas—to covertly “create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.” The indictment alleges that Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva, in addition to other RT employees, funneled the money to a Tennessee-based online content creation company to create and post English-language videos intended to amplify “U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition to” Russian interests on social media platforms, including TikTok, Instagram, X, and YouTube.

Read the affidavit here or below:

And read the indictment here or below: