US imposes sanctions on RT executives, unseals charges against two RT employees

The US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian broadcaster RT, and her deputies - Anton Anisimov and Elizaveta Brodskaya, the Treasury said in a statement, Report informs referring to TASS.

Moreover, Deputy Director of the RT Information Broadcasting Andrey Kiyashko, RT’s Digital Media Projects Manager Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, an employee of the Digital Media Projects Department, were blacklisted.

In addition, the US Department of State has restricted the Rossiya Segodnya media group and its subsidiaries - RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik, designating them as "foreign missions".

"Today’s designations complement law enforcement actions taken by the Department of Justice and the Department of State’s designation of the Rossiya Segodnya media group and five of its subsidiaries, RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik, as Foreign Missions, steps to impose visa restrictions, and release of a Rewards for Justice (RFJ) reward offer of up to $10 million relating to information pertaining to foreign interference in a US election," the document said.

Meanwhile, US Attorney General Merrick Garland said while announcing sanctions against RT executives that the US authorities unsealed charges against two RT employees for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and money laundering.

The two Russian nationals working for RT - Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva - were indicted in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday morning.

"The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to US audiences with hidden Russian government messaging," Garland said.