Biden administration claims RT and Russian state media are waging a covert information war around the world

The Biden administration on Friday accused Russia’s international television station RT of acting as an ally of Moscow’s intelligence services in conducting covert information warfare operations around the world, including raising funds to buy weapons for the Russian military’s war against Ukraine.

Citing declassified intelligence, U.S. officials announced new sanctions against Russian state media and said the administration had launched diplomatic efforts to inform other countries about the state-run media outlet RT, which they said was secretly spreading propaganda through media sites in South America, Europe and Africa while concealing Moscow’s involvement.

“RT wants to keep its new covert intelligence capabilities hidden, just as it has done with its long-standing propaganda and disinformation operations,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “Our most powerful antidote to Russian lies is the truth, which shines a bright light on what the Kremlin is up to in the shadows,” he said.

The administration announced the charges, sanctions and other measures last week to counter Moscow’s aggressive campaign to shape politics and stoking division in the U.S., focusing on alleged Russian efforts to interfere in U.S. elections and undermine support for Ukraine. On Friday, State Department officials sought to highlight Russian intelligence operations around the world.

James Rubin, coordinator of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, said RT was more than a state-run media outlet, it was a “full-fledged part of the Russian government’s intelligence services and operations” in the Ukraine war.

RT now has an in-house cyber espionage unit with ties to Russian intelligence and has used the crowdfunding platform to secure weapons and other support for Russian forces in their war against Ukraine, Rubin and other officials said.

“A large online crowdfunding platform run by the quasi-intelligence agency, state-run RT, and through its social media channels, is providing supplies and weapons to Russian military forces in Ukraine,” the State Department said in a statement. Supplies include sniper rifles, bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, drones, radio equipment and diesel generators. Some of the equipment, such as surveillance drones, is said to have come from China.

Russian authorities have said RT is using its ostensibly independent proxy media to spread information supporting the invasion of Ukraine. They say RT has used shell companies and other intelligence tactics, and secretly recruited and paid social media celebrities to churn out content to conceal Russian involvement.

RT’s propaganda and “disinformation” are helping to undermine international support for Ukraine, Rubin said.

“One, but not the only, reason why the world is not as fully behind Ukraine as one would expect, despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its violation of Article 1 of the international system, is because of RT’s reach and influence, where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world.”

In Africa, RT is allegedly behind an online platform called “African Stream” but has kept its role secret, officials said. In Germany, RT secretly runs a Berlin-based English-language site called “Red,” and in France, RT employs journalists in Paris to run “influence projects” aimed at French-speaking audiences, U.S. officials said.

The US accused Russia of engaging in operations in Argentina “aimed at destabilizing the Argentine government and increasing tensions between Argentina and its neighboring countries,” according to a State Department statement.

The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on the state broadcaster, which oversees RT TV Novosti and another state-run media outlet, Rossiya Segodnya, and its director, Dmitry Kiselyov, officials said.

Officials said the state-run media groups Segodnya and Novosti, which are aligned with the Russian government, were plotting to stoke unrest in Moldova and interfere in the country’s upcoming presidential elections.

Russian state media were also targeted for sanctions for funneling money to Moldova under the guise of humanitarian aid and for “buying votes to influence Moldovan upcoming elections,” officials said.

Russia has previously denied conducting intelligence operations to interfere in US elections or the politics of other countries.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.