Why Russia's broadcaster RT turned to covertly funding American pro-Trump influencers

submited by

Style Pass

2024-09-28 17:30:03

“I remember going to bars in this town and seeing RT on televisions, just on,” Belogolova, who is now director of the Emerging Technologies Initiative at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, recalls.

RT was long known to be government-funded and a source of Russian propaganda. But it claimed to be independent. It hired American journalists, and featured some big names like former CNN host Larry King. The channel’s aesthetic was sleek, modern, and cable news-like. But over the years, as American relations with Russia cooled, skepticism of RT grew.

Now, the U.S. government has accused RT and its parent company, Rossiya Segodnya, of going beyond propaganda, as part of the Kremlin’s efforts to destabilize democracies and erode international support for Ukraine.

“They are engaged in covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections and democracies, functioning like a de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a press conference this month.