US indicts Russian woman for interfering in 2018 polls

The finance chief of Russia’s leading troll farm was indicted by the United States Justice Department on Friday for interfering with US elections, the first person to face charges involving the 2018 congressional midterms.

The indictment said Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova was involved in a criminal conspiracy as the chief accountant for Project Lakhta, a broad political interference operation in the Saint Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency.

Since 2014, Khusyaynova has been handling the finances for operations to sow disinformation and stir up divisiveness in US elections, according to prosecutors.

She budgeted millions of dollars this year for online social media efforts directed and the US and Europe.

“Today’s charges allege that Russian national Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova conspired with others who were part of a Russian influence campaign to interfere with US democracy,” said Assistant Attorney-General John Demers.

The Internet Research Agency is controlled by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, through his Concord Management and Consulting group, prosecutors said.

Prigozhin, sometimes dubbed “Putin’s chef” because he has managed catering for the Russian leader, was already indicted in February along with 12 other IRA employees over their disinformation campaigns during the 2016 presidential election.

In that effort, they pumped out millions of postings via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms designed to stir up animosity between political camps and groups in society.

The campaign aimed to boost Donald Trump’s chances of winning the presidency, according to US intelligence.