In the US state of Florida, charges have been filed against three Russians and four US citizens. The state authorities accuse them of conducting an “information campaign to exert influence in the interests of the Russian government and the FSB,” the US Department of Justice said in a statement.
The case involves the president of the anti-globalization movement in Russia Alexander Ionov and FSB officers Alexei Sukhodolov and Yegor Popov. According to the case file, between November 2014 and July 2022, Ionov participated in a “foreign campaign of harmful influence” directed against the United States, while Sukhodolov and Popov “controlled him from Moscow.” According to the agency, they recruited members of the African Popular Socialist Party in Florida, the Black Hammer Party in Georgia and another unnamed political party in California to “act as unregistered illegal agents of the Russian government, sow discord and spread pro-Russian propaganda.”
The four American citizens accused in this case are members of these parties, RBC notes.
The indictment alleges that the Russians were also involved in covertly funding certain candidates for local elections in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida in 2019. According to the Ministry of Justice, Popov directly called this work on behalf of the FSB “our election campaign”, and Ionov called the candidate “a candidate whom we supervise.”
Ionov, Sukhodolov and Popov face up to five years in prison, the Americans – up to ten years in prison.
In addition, according to the Ministry of Justice, in a separate case, the details of which were not disclosed, the Russian woman Natalia Burlinova was accused in Washington of “conspiring with an FSB officer to act as an illegal agent of Russia in the United States.” Burlinova – President of the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiatives – Creative Diplomacy; in July 2022, she, along with Ionov, came under US sanctions.
Russia has repeatedly denied allegations of interference in US elections and called them unfounded.
Source: Rosbalt
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