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Two Russian nationals, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, remain at large after being charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering. After the indictment was unsealed on September 4, Attorney General Merrick Garland commented that “the Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts,” and FBI Director Christopher Wray issued a similar warning, commenting that “covert attempts to sow division and trick Americans into unwittingly consuming foreign propaganda represents attacks on our democracy.” The investigation remains ongoing.

According to the indictment, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are employees of Russian state owned and controlled broadcaster RT (formerly Russia Today). They are alleged to have co-opted online commentators by funneling them nearly $10 million to pump pro-Russia propaganda and disinformation to U.S. audiences across social media, including Tik Tok, Instagram, X, and YouTube. RT allegedly organized the scheme by secretly planting and financing a content creation company in Tennessee, under the direction and management of Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva using fake personas and shell companies.  Since November 2023, an RT affiliate in the U.S. is alleged to have posted nearly 2,000 videos that have garnered more than 16M views on YouTube alone, without disclosing to its viewers that it was funded by and directed by RT.

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