Russia’s RT is waging covert information warfare around the world, Biden admin says

The Biden administration accused Russia’s global TV network RT on Friday of carrying out covert information warfare operations around the world as an arm of Moscow’s spy agencies, including raising funds to buy weapons for Russian forces waging war against Ukraine.

Citing declassified intelligence, U.S. officials announced new sanctions against Russian state media and said the administration was launching a diplomatic effort to inform foreign partners about RT, the state-funded outlet that they said had secretly pushed out propaganda through media sites in South America, Europe and Africa while hiding the Kremlin’s fingerprints.

“RT wants its new covert intelligence capabilities, like its longstanding propaganda and disinformation efforts, to remain hidden,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. “Our most powerful antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth. It’s shining a bright light on what the Kremlin is trying to do under the cover of darkness,” he said.

Last week, the administration focused on Russia’s alleged efforts to meddle in the U.S. election and undermine support for Ukraine, unveiling indictments, sanctions and other measures to counter what it called Moscow’s aggressive campaign to shape politics and sow divisions in America. On Friday, State Department officials sought to highlight Russia’s information operations around the world.

James Rubin, coordinator for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, said RT was much more than a state-funded media outlet — “a fully fledged member of the intelligence apparatus and operation of the Russian government” for the war in Ukraine.

RT now has a cyberintelligence unit embedded in the organization with ties to Russian spy services and has used a crowdfunding platform to secure weaponry and other support for Russian forces waging war against Ukraine, Rubin and other officials said.

“A large online crowdfunding platform operating within the quasi-intelligence, state-funded RT and through social media channels is providing material support and weaponry to Russia’s military units in Ukraine,” including sniper rifles, body armor night-vision goggles, drones, radio gear and diesel generators, the State Department said in a statement. Some of the equipment came from China, including reconnaissance drones, it said.

Through proxy media outlets that purport to be independent, Russia is disseminating information to back its invasion of Ukraine, officials said. Using front companies and other intelligence tactics, RT covertly recruits and pays social media personalities to churn out content that hides Russia’s involvement, officials said.

RT’s propaganda and “disinformation” has helped undercut international support for Ukraine, Rubin said.

“One of the reasons, not the only reason, but one of the reasons why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be, given that Russia has invaded Ukraine and violated rule number one of the international system, it’s because of the broad scope and reach of RT, where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions of people around the world.”

In Africa, RT allegedly is behind an online platform called “African Stream” but hides its role, officials said. In Germany, RT secretly runs a Berlin-based English-language site known as “Red” and in France, RT hired a journalist in Paris to carry out “influence projects” aimed at a French-speaking audience, according to U.S. officials.

In Argentina, the U.S. accused Russia of being engaged “in operations meant to destabilize the government of Argentina and escalate tensions between Argentina and its neighbors,” the State Department statement said.

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

The state media groups Segodnya and Novosti, working with the Russian government, allegedly have planned to foment unrest in Moldova and interfere in that country’s upcoming presidential election, officials said.

Russian state-funded media was also targeted for sanctions for allegedly funneling money into Moldova under the guise of humanitarian aid “to buy votes to influence the upcoming Moldovan elections,” officials said.

Russia has previously denied running information operations to interfere in America’s elections or in other country’s politics. 

Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.