Russia has said it will take action in retaliation to the recent sanctions the United States imposed on its state-funded media network. The US actions are aimed at stopping RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and her deputy, Elizaveta Brodskaia; Russian officials claim these steps are part of an ‘information war’ before the November presidential elections.
Maria Zakharova, the head of the information and media department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that such moves signify a regression of “liberal democracies.
” According to her, the actions undertaken by American authorities are simple means of manipulating the electorate. “There will be a response,”
Zakharova said.
Moreover, two employees of RT, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, were charged in the USA for an alleged attempt to influence the electoral process. They are said to have channeled $10 million to an American-based company, creating content with hidden Russian government messages intended for the American public.
Zakharova claimed that the US has been preparing information warfare and stated that attempts to put pressure on Russian journalists in the United States with expulsion or other restrictive measures concerning visas would be met by symmetrical or asymmetrical actions toward American media.
The US Department of State recently classified the employees of Russian state media as ‘foreign missions, ’ and media firms such as Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and Sputnik, among others, have been put under heightened scrutiny. This will make them file with the American government and bring to realization their undertakings in the country.
Lately, due to the aggravation of relations between the two countries, the US media have significantly decreased their representation in Russia, especially after the Russian authorities repressed protests during the Ukraine operation.
