Among those charged are 59-year-old Aleksandr Babakov, the deputy speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Babakov’s chief of staff, Alexander Vorobev, 52, and staff member Mikhail Plisyuk, 58, were also charged. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Manhattan prosecutors have accused the defendants of operating an “international foreign influence and misinformation network” since 2012 to further Russia’s interests. The indictment alleges that the campaign was designed to weaken US partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions, and promote Russian actions “designed to undermine” Ukraine’s sovereignty. Prosecutors cited an e-mail in December 2016 from Vorobef promoting the campaign of influence, where he allegedly said that “purely legal work in hostile regimes is not enough.” Vorobev identified the “West” as the place to continue a campaign on “troubled borders for the movement”, which he identified as the Baltic states of Poland, Moldova and Ukraine, prosecutors said. “Russia’s illegal actions against Ukraine extend beyond the battlefield,” said US Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan. “Political influences under Russian control allegedly planned to direct geopolitical change in Russia’s favor, secretly and illegally within the United States and elsewhere in the West,” Williams added. “Such malicious foreign interventions will be exposed and we will seek justice against its perpetrators.” The defendants were each charged with three counts of conspiracy: acting as foreign agents without formally notifying the US Department of Justice, violating US sanctions and lying in a fraudulent attempt to obtain a US visa. It was not possible to contact anyone directly for comment. Prosecutors say the accused are based in Russia and are free. Each of them could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. The allegations are the latest in a series of US-led crackdowns targeting Russian individuals and interests since Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a “special military operation.” According to the indictment, the defendants paid two European-based advisers to contact members of Congress. They also reportedly recruited a New York-based media professional to pressure Congress lawmakers on an alleged campaign to advance Cuba’s human rights and interests. Prosecutors said the recruited American in April 2012 offered a free trip to a member of Congress to meet European politicians and receive an award and left “100,000,000 voice messages” to lawmakers to reject. The defendants were also accused of leading a “Russian propaganda campaign” following Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Crimean peninsula. Prosecutors said a member of Congress was offered a free trip to a conference in Yalta on behalf of Sergei Aksyonov, a Russian-appointed leader in Crimea under US sanctions. The indictment also alleges that the defendants paid people to be fake election observers to falsely validate the results of a referendum held to make Crimea an official part of Russia. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Jonathan Stempel in New York. and Sarah N. Lynch, Arshad Mohammed and Jan Wolfe in Washington. Edited by: Daniel Wallis Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
