The US has accused the Russian television station RT of espionage.

“Today we are announcing that Kremlin-backed media outlets are not only playing a covert influence role to undermine democracy in the United States, but are also interfering in the sovereign affairs of countries around the world,” the Secretary of State said. USA Antony Blinken at a briefing at the State Department.

– Thanks to new information, much of which comes from RT employees, we know that RT had cyber assets and engaged in covert information and influence operations and procurement of military equipment, he added. He explained that inside RT – formerly Russia Today – there is a special unit associated with Russian services that collects information for intelligence purposes and conducts covert influence operations around the world.

The US Secretary of State also announced sanctions on three entities and two individuals involved in these operations, including interference in the upcoming elections in Moldova. This includes the Rossiya Segodnya agency and its head Dmitry Kiselyov, known for hosting propaganda programs on Russian public television.

Blinken cited a number of different examples of RT’s covert activities, from secretly paying influencers to covertly running propaganda channels in Africa, among others. Germany and in Francethrough collecting information and passing it on to Russian services, media or mercenary groups, to secretly conducting fundraising for the purchase of weapons for Russian soldiers.

RT and its head Margarita Simonyan were also allegedly involved in activities aimed at inciting riots in Moldova.

Blinken announced that the US, together with the UK and Canada will launch a joint diplomatic campaign to mobilize other countries to act against RT and “other Russian disinformation and covert influence operations machinery.”

As James Rubin, head of the Global Engagement Center, a special unit of the US State Department dedicated to combating disinformation, said, RT's activity is “one of the reasons why so much of the world is not as fully behind Ukraine as one might expect.” Among the countries where the channel is particularly active, he mentioned ArgentinaFrance and Germany.

The announcement of sanctions and the diplomatic initiative comes just over a week after the US prosecutor's office revealed that RT had paid $10 million to relatively well-known right-wing influencers supporting Donald Trump for spreading the content they suggest.