Washington — The US State Department announced new sanctions against Russian state media on Friday, accusing a Kremlin news agency to work hand-in-hand with the Russian military and run fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine.
While the channel, RT, has previously faced sanctions for its work spreading Kremlin propaganda and disinformation, the charges announced Friday suggest its role goes far beyond influence operations. Instead, Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said RT is a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic allies.
“RT wants its new covert intelligence capabilities, like its longstanding propaganda-disinformation efforts, to remain hidden,” Blinken said. “Our strongest antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth. It shines a bright light on what the Kremlin is trying to do under cover of darkness.”
RT has also created websites posing as legitimate news sites to spread disinformation and propaganda in Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere, officials said. They say the shop has also expanded its use of cyber operations with a new unit with ties to Russian intelligence created last year.
The crowdsourcing effort sought to raise money for Russian military supplies, some of which were sourced in China, officials said. There were no apparent links between RT and the fundraising campaign, or any indication that Chinese officials knew their products were being sold to Russia.
RT’s actions show that “it is not just a firehouse of disinformation, but a full-fledged member of the Russian government’s intelligence apparatus and operation,” said Jamie Rubin, who directs the State Department’s Global Engagement Center.
The sanctions announced Friday target RT’s parent organization, TV-Novosti, as well as a related state media group called Rossiya Segodnya, as well as Dmitry Kiselyov, Rossiya Segodnya’s general director. A third organization and its leader, Nelli Parutenko, were also sanctioned for running a vote-buying scheme in Moldova aimed at helping Moscow’s preferred candidates in an upcoming election.