Russian charged in election operation
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A 44-year-old Russian national was charged Friday as part of a conspiracy to disrupt the U.S. political system, including the looming midterm elections, federal authorities announced.
A criminal complaint names Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova of St. Petersburg, Russia, who allegedly served as chief accountant for the disruption campaign funded by businessman Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While the case involves Russian election interference, the charges were not brought by Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the ongoing inquiry into election meddling by the Kremlin.
Nevertheless, Prigozhin was among the 13 Russians indicted earlier this year by Mueller’s team, in connection with a wide-ranging political interference effort involving an Internet firm tied to the Kremlin.
Prigozhin was not charged in Friday’s action, though two of the companies he controlled – Concord Management and Consulting LLC., and Concord Catering— were listed as assisting in the case involving Khusyaynova. Both of the companies were also named, along with Prigozhin, in the earlier Mueller indictment.
Khusyaynova, who is not in U.S. custody, is charged with managing the finances of a $35 million campaign, known as Project Lakhta, that targeted the United States and other countries in an influence operation that funded activists, purchased advertising and promoted postings across social media platforms.
During the first six months of this year, the campaign’s operating budget totaled more than $10 million, federal authorities said Friday.
The alleged conspiracy, according to court documents, sought to engage in “information warfare against the United States,” in part by spreading distrust toward candidates for political office.
Prosecutors said the project involved a number of associates who took “extraordinary steps to make it appear that they were ordinary American political activists.”
“This included the use of virtual private networks . ... They used social media platforms to create thousands of social media and email accounts that appeared to be operated by U.S. persons, and used them to create and amplify divisive social and political content targeting U.S. audiences,” the government alleged. “These accounts also were used to advocate for the election or electoral defeat of particular candidates in the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections. Some social media accounts posted tens of thousands of messages, and had tens of thousands of followers.”
The Russian campaign allegedly sought to arouse political responses to a range of hot-button issues in the U.S., from immigration and gun rights to race, including National Football League players’ protests during the pregame national anthem.
The charges do not include allegations that Khusyaynova or the broader conspiracy had any effect on the outcome of an election.