- Alexander Viktorovich Ionov charged with conspiring to use US nationals as “illegal agents of the Russian government”.
- If convicted, he may face up to five years in prison. Ionov is expected to be tried in absentia, along with other key Russian individuals.
- Russian media tycoon Alexander Ionov has been sanctioned by the US Treasury Department.
A Russian individual has been charged by US authorities with conspiring to use US nationals as “illegal agents of the Russian government.”
The US Justice Department complaint also claims that Alexander Viktorovich Ionov, a Moscow resident, attempted to meddle in US elections.
According to the report, he was the leader of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), a group that recruited US political groups to advance Russian state goals.
He has strongly condemned the US accusation.
According to the accusation, Mr. Ionov worked for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and controlled some unnamed political groups in Florida, Georgia, and California.
It claims that one of Russia’s goals was to “encourage California’s secession from the United States.”
If convicted, he may face up to five years in prison.
Mr Ionov stated on Facebook in response to the indictment: “I have never met such nonsense and deception.
“There are no specific names of officials, there is no evidence of funding and there are no intelligible arguments.”
He went on to say: “The Ukrainian situation has driven US officials insane! Comrades, you can now see what kind of ‘democracy’ exists in the United States!”
Mr. Ionov has confirmed to the Media that he is currently in Russia. He is expected to be tried in absentia, along with other Western indictments of key Russian individuals.
Several senior Russian officials and state-controlled entities, including banks, have been sanctioned by the West in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and earlier annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula.
According to the US indictment, Mr Ionov and at least three Russian officials “engaged in a years-long global malicious influence campaign targeting the United States” from at least December 2014 to March 2022.
Mr Ionov has criticized various independent Russian media outlets, notably The Bell and Meduza, and has had them designated as “foreign agents” under Russian legislation. This designation limits their activities in Russia.
The US Treasury Department also sanctioned Mr Ionov, the AGMR, and two other purportedly controlled organizations: the STOP-Imperialism website and Ionov Transcontinental, a corporation “with a foothold in Iran, Venezuela, and Lebanon.”
Natalya Valeryevna Burlinova and her Center for Support and Development of Public Initiative Creative Diplomacy were also sanctioned (PICREADI). Despite claiming independence, the US statement claims that PICREADI is supported by the Russian state.
The sanctions freeze the assets of such organizations in the United States and prevent transactions with them.
Mr Ionov is also accused of being an acquaintance of Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is facing US penalties for Kremlin meddling in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential election.
Mr Ionov “sought to work with Prigozhin’s Foundation for Battling Injustice (FBR) regarding the viability of directly supporting a certain candidate in a 2022 US gubernatorial election,” according to the Treasury Department.
It goes on to say that in mid-2021, he “tried to spread and propagate falsehoods in order to impact the US election process.”
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