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US warns Russia's election meddling more sophisticated, widespread

Moscow's tactics include targeting US swing states using artificial intelligence and influence-for-hire firms

Russian propaganda: New Kremlin tactic reveals efforts to sway US vote

Russia has long sought to inject disinformation into U.S. political discourse. Now, it's got a new angle: paying Americans to do the work. This week's indictment of two Russian state media employees on charges that they paid a Tennessee company to create pro-Russian content has renewed concerns about foreign meddling in the November election while revealing the Kremlin's latest tactic in a growing information war. If the allegations prove correct, they represent a significant escalation, analysts say, and likely capture only a small piece of a larger Russian effort to sway the election. We have seen the smoke for years. Now, here's the fire, said Jim Ludes, a former national defense analyst who now leads the Pell Center for International Relations at Salve Regina University. I don't wonder if they're doing more of this. I have no doubt." According to prosecutors, the two employees of RT, a Russian outlet formerly known as Russia Today, funneled $10 million to the U.S. media company

Russians mock US election allegations as Putin says he supports Harris

Russian commentators on Thursday mocked allegations that Moscow was meddling again in the US presidential election, and President Vladimir Putin appeared to bolster the teasing tone by wryly claiming he supported Vice President Kamala Harris. On Wednesday, the US Justice Department said the Russian state-owned broadcaster RT is carrying out a covert campaign to influence the American public ahead of the election. Two state media employees were charged, and 10 people and two entities were sanctioned, with Kremlin-run websites seized. The Justice Department did not identify which candidate the propaganda campaign was meant to boost. But internal strategy notes from participants in the effort released by the Justice Department make clear that former President Donald Trump was the intended beneficiary, even though the candidates' names were blacked out. The Kremlin has dismissed previous allegations of interference in US elections, from 2016 and onward, as nonsense. A Foreign Ministry .

Russian foreign minister warns US not to cross red lines on Ukraine issue

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned the US not to cross Russia's "red lines" on the Ukraine conflict, asserting that Washington is starting to lose its sense of mutual restraint with Moscow, state-owned TASS news agency reported. In an interview on Wednesday, Lavrov said that Americans have "crossed their own red lines" on the supply of arms to Ukraine, the Russian news agency reported. "They (the US) should understand that our red lines are nothing to fool with. And they know very well where they are," the report quoted him as saying. Lavrov said the US is starting to lose its sense of mutual restraint with Russia, calling it "dangerous". "(US National Security Council spokesman John) Kirby said that the issue of stepping up support for Ukraine should be approached carefully so as not to provoke World War III because it will be sad to see Europe gone," he said, adding that the US has a "deep-seated conviction that they are untouchable". Lavrov said he hoped Washington would

Will take action against US media in response to charges, says Russia

The United States on Wednesday filed money-laundering charges against two employees of RT

Right-wing influencers were duped to work for covert Russian operation: US

They have millions of followers online. They have been major players in right-wing political discourse since Donald Trump was president. And they worked unknowingly for a company that was a front for a Russian influence operation, U.S. prosecutors say. An indictment filed Wednesday alleges a media company linked to six conservative influencers including well-known personalities Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson was secretly funded by Russian state media employees to churn out English-language videos that were often consistent with the Kremlin's interest in amplifying U.S. domestic divisions in order to weaken U.S. opposition" to Russian interests, like its war in Ukraine. In addition to marking the third straight presidential election in which U.S. authorities have unveiled politically charged details about Russia's attempted interference in U.S. politics, an indictment indicates how Moscow may be attempting to capitalize on the skyrocketing popularity of right-wing podcasters

US accuses Russia of using media to spread disinformation before elections

The Biden administration announced wide-ranging actions Wednesday meant to call out Russian influence in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, unsealing criminal charges against two employees of a Russian state-run media company and seizing websites used by the Kremlin to spread disinformation. The measures, which in addition to indictments also included sanctions and visa restrictions., represented a U.S. government effort just weeks before the November election to disrupt a persistent threat from Russia that American officials have long warned has the potential to sow discord and create confusion among voters. Washington has said that Moscow, which intelligence officials have said has a preference for Republican Donald Trump, remains the primary threat to elections even as the FBI continues to investigate a hack by Iran this year that targeted the presidential campaigns of both political parties. The Justice Department's message is clear: We will have no tolerance for attempts b

India's US crude imports rebound as Washington tightens screws on Russia

India may have bought over $1 bn of US oil in August; increasing such shipments helps it to trim trade surplus with the US

Russia bans 92 more Americans from the country, including journalists

Russia's Foreign Ministry announced 92 additions Wednesday to its list of Americans banned from entering the country, including some journalists who formerly worked in Russia, and law enforcement and business people. A ministry statement said the bans were imposed in response to the Russophobic course pursued by the Biden administration with the declared goal of 'inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow.' It said the banned journalists represent leading liberal-globalist publications involved in the production and dissemination of fakes' about Russia and the Russian armed forces. The new list of banned Americans includes 11 current or former staff members of the Wall Street Journal including its Editor in Chief, Emma Tucker. She had repeatedly criticised Russia for the arrest and conviction on espionage charges of WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, who spent 16 months behind bars before being released in August in a prisoner exchange. The ban has also been imposed on five New York Time

Avoid export of missile-related items to Russia: US cautions India Inc

Flags risk of suppliers facing Western sanctions

Americans freed alongside Russian assassin in biggest post-Cold War swap

After a year of secret negotiations, 24 prisoners were swapped: 16 moved from Russia to the West, and eight from the West to Russia

Newly freed Americans back in US after landmark prisoner swap with Russia

The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free. Gershkovich, Whelan and Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist with dual US-Russia citizenship, arrived on American soil shortly before midnight for a joyful reunion with their families. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were also there to greet them. The trade unfolded despite relations between Washington and Moscow being at their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian President Vladimir Putin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators in backchannel talks at one point explored an exchange involving Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, but after his death in February ultimately stitched together a 24-person deal that required significant concessions from European .

Putin warns US of Cold War-style crisis if missiles deployed to Germany

Earlier this month, the US said it would start deploying long-range missiles in Germany from 2026

Agreement with Russia is 'deal with devil,' adviser to Ukrainian prez says

Signing an agreement with Russia to stop the war with Ukraine would amount to signing a deal with the devil, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as pressure mounts on the country to seek an end to more than two years of fighting. A deal would only buy time for Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen his army and usher in another, potentially more violent chapter in the war, Mykhailo Podolyak told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. If you want to sign a deal with the devil, who will then drag you to hell, well, go for it. This is what Russia is, Podolyak said when asked about the prospects for a peace deal for Kyiv, whose forces are locked in a bloody war of attrition with Moscow's troops in eastern Ukraine. If you sign anything today with Russia, that will not lose the war and will not be legally responsible for mass crimes, this will mean that you have signed yourself a ticket to continue the war on a different scale, with other ...

US treasury dept orders banks to disclose Russian assets for forfeiture

The Treasury Department ordered the nation's banking industry to start disclosing its holdings of Russian assets on Tuesday, with the goal of eventually seizing those billions of dollars in assets and selling them to aid the devastated Ukrainian economy. The disclosure is required under a new law passed by Congress earlier this year known as the REPO Act, which gives the U.S. government the authority to seize Russian state assets held by U.S. banks, with the goal of eventually selling them and giving those funds to Ukraine. While the vast bulk of Russian assets are held in Europe, it is estimated that the U.S. banking system holds as much as $6 billion in Russian assets in trust. Banks will need to report Russian assets on their books no later than Aug. 2 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control. If a bank discovers any new Russian assets on their books after the deadline, those assets need to be reported within 10 days, the Treasury Department said. Russia's war in Ukraine, which ..

US asks Moscow to free jailed Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva

A court in the southern city of Kazan disclosed on Monday that it had convicted Kurmasheva of spreading false information about the Russian army

Pentagon expresses concern at growing China, Russia cooperation in Arctic

China has its eye on mineral resources and new shipping routes as ice packs recede with rising temperatures

More investments required in Arctic to keep up with Russia, China: Pentagon

The US Defense Department must invest more to upgrade sensors, communications and space-based technologies in the Arctic to keep pace with China and Russia who are increasingly operating there, including in joint military exercises, a new Pentagon strategy says. Saying that now is a critical time for the Arctic, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks told reporters Monday that climate change, increased activity by adversaries and degrading US infrastructure are forcing the department to rethink how to keep the Arctic secure and ensure troops are well-equipped and protected. The Arctic strategy is short on specifics, but broadly pushes for greater spending on high-tech sensor and radar systems, a range of military equipment, and continued investment in Pituffik Space Base, the US Space Force base in the northwest corner of Greenland. And it relies on growing partnerships with Canada and a number of NATO allies in the north. Defense Department leaders have, for more than the past ...

Donald Trump has 'very good call' with Zelenskyy over Ukraine conflict

In a post on X describing the call, Zelenskyy said he congratulated Trump on his nomination and condemned the "shocking assassination attempt in Pennsylvania"

Russia holds UN meeting on global cooperation; US terms it 'hypocrisy'

Russia's foreign minister accused the United States on Tuesday of holding the entire West at gunpoint and impeding international cooperation, a claim the US ambassador to the United Nations denounced as hypocrisy by a country that invaded neighbouring Ukraine. The finger-pointing came at Russia 's showcase event during its presidency of the UN Security Council this month, and it chose the topic Multilateral cooperation for a more just, democratic and sustainable world order. Russia's top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, flew in from Moscow to preside. Just before the meeting, Ukraine's UN Ambassador, Sergiy Kyslytsya, read a statement on behalf of about 50 countries, including the United States, whose ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield was among the several dozen UN envoys surrounding him. The joint statement said the international community must not be distracted from Russia's flagrant violations of Ukraine's territorial integrity and from Moscow cynically attempting to present itself as