The United States government sanctioned this Friday two individuals and four Russian entities, whom it accuses of helping Moscow in “electoral interference activities” and for having collaborated in attempts to destabilize Russia. Washington and its allies like Ukraine.
In a statement, the Treasury Department explained that the measure responds to US efforts to “protect free and fair elections” and assured that the Kremlin’s intelligence bodies, including the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB, in English), support Moscow’s operations against Washington and its partners.
One of those sanctioned is Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, an FSB collaborator who has used his positions in various companies to spread Kremlin disinformation, Washington said.
The Treasury assured that since 2020 Ionov has cooperated with the FSB to identify controversial sociopolitical issues in the US and financially supported organizations to alter the situation in the North American country.
In addition, on instructions from the FSB, in 2018 he allegedly launched a fundraising campaign to help Maria Butina, a Russian citizen arrested in the US who pleaded guilty to espionage and who, after serving a prison sentence, was deported to Russia.
Washington has also sanctioned the companies Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia and Ionov Transkontinental, founded and directed by Ionov.
It has also designated the English and Russian-language website STOP-Imperialism, which bills itself as a “global information agency” but which, according to the US, is used by Ionov and his companies as a means of disseminating disinformation.
In parallel, the US Executive has imposed sanctions on Natalya Valeryevna Burlinova, president and founder of the Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative Creative Diplomacy, an organization also designated by the US.
The US authorities affirmed that Burlinova and her center are linked to Moscow and its secret services, which, in fact, “direct and finance” the actions of the sanctioned company and its institution.
As a consequence of these measures, all the properties and assets that those sanctioned have in the US are blocked, and Americans are prohibited from having transactions with them.
The sanctions are announced a day after the State Department offered a reward of 10 million dollars for information on the alleged Russian interference in its elections, both in the past and today, a few months before they are held. mid-term elections in November.