Russian broadcaster’s work includes covert intelligence operations, Canada, U.S. warn | CBC News

The U.S. warned countries around the world on Friday it believes Russia’s destabilization efforts extend far beyond using North Americans for political interference, saying media entities have been “functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said RT — previously known as Russia Today — had gone beyond acting as a propagandist media organization to working as an integral piece in Russia’s efforts toward fighting Ukraine and weakening democratic nations from Europe to South America and Africa.

“Today, we’re announcing that these Kremlin-backed media outlets are not only playing this covert influence role to undermine democracy in the United States, but also to meddle in the sovereign affairs of countries around the world,” Blinken said.

Blinken said RT has used its “cyber-capabilities” to work with a new unit linked to Russian intelligence. He cited new information, much of which he said came from RT employees.

RT’s work led to “incidents” affecting Canada’s infrastructure, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

“It is deeply concerning to learn that RT has acquired and managed other pro-Russia assets, including cyber actors who have previously carried out information operations and caused cyber incidents against Western targets, including Canadian critical infrastructure,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly in a statement, without providing further detail.

The ministry said Canadian intelligence also found RT has been “acting as an extension of Russian intelligence services, relying on state-backed hacking, psychological and information operations, covert influence and military procurement.”

The U.S., Canada and U.K. are working together to inform other countries about Russia’s interference, including by sharing what information they have with countries around the world.

“Canada and our partners will continue to confront Russia’s aggression and subversion. Canada will not tolerate any foreign interference on its soil and will continue to expose and counter these activities,” Joly said.

RT already sanctioned 

RT has already been sanctioned by the U.S. for its work spreading Russia propaganda and disinformation, but the allegations announced on Friday suggest the broadcaster’s role extends beyond political interference.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted two Russians — both RT employees — who are accused of illegally funnelling $9.7 million US into a Tennessee content-creation company to spread pro-Russia propaganda.

The indictment didn’t name the outlet central to the scheme, but details in the court document match those of Tenet Media, a company founded by Canadian far-right commentator Lauren Chen and her husband, Liam Donovan.

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American and Canadian influencers made videos for the company, though the indictment said they did not know about Russia’s involvement and believed their work was funded by a made-up investor.

Last week, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the federal government was working with the U.S. on what he called a “serious matter.”

“Any Canadians who illegally assist in Russia’s persistent attempts to use disinformation, criminal and covert activities, and corruption to undermine our sovereignty and democratic processes will face the full force of Canadian law,” he said in a statement.

‘Malign influence campaign’

RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan has said the Americans were only trying to stop the broadcaster from doing its journalistic work and vowed to work around the sanctions.

The Biden administration said it has imposed sanctions on three Russian entities and two people connected with RT and linked to what it described as a “malign influence campaign in Moldova, which is on Ukraine’s southwest border.

The U.S., Canada and U.K. accused Russia in June of working to undermine the outcome of the Moldovan presidential election in October and to encourage protests if a pro-Moscow candidate doesn’t win.

The Argentinian government has also been a target for Russian stabilization, the U.S. said.

The U.S. State Department identified two other news outlets it said are secretly run by RT: the website African Stream and the Berlin-based English-language platform Red.

It said RT also hired a journalist based in Paris to run influence projects targeting French speakers. The journalist was not identified.