The US accused a Russian legislator of Putin's party and two advisers of conspiracy

A Russian legislator and two advisers launched a covert propaganda campaign aimed at gaining U.S. government support for Russia's foreign policy agenda, including measures against Ukraine, according to a Department of Justice indictment revealed on Thursday.

The effort was part of what U.S. officials describe as a broader goal of the Russian government to influence public opinion in its favor, sow discord in US institutions, and open gaps between US and European allies.

In this case, prosecutors say, lawmakers tried to co-opt US and European political officials, including members of the US Congress, and also tried to enter the US under false pretenses to participate in meetings.

Legislator Aleksandr Babakov, 59, is identified in the indictment as a senior Russian government official of the same political party as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who currently serves as vice president of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian legislature. Two of its staff members, Aleksandr Nikolayevich Vorobev, 52, and Mikhail Alekseyevich Plisyuk, 58, were also indicted in federal court in Manhattan.

The three men named are based in Russia and remain at large, authorities said. They are accused of conspiring to get a U.S. citizen to act as a foreign agent for Russia and Russian officials without notifying the Department of Justice; with conspiring to evade US sanctions; and with conspiracy of visa fraud.

“Today's indictment demonstrates that Russia's illegitimate actions against Ukraine extend beyond the battlefield, as influential politicians under Russian control allegedly conspired to direct geopolitical change in favor of Russia through surreptitious and illegal means in the US and elsewhere in the West.” , Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams said in a statement. “Such evil foreign interference will be exposed and we will seek justice against its perpetrators.”

The case is part of a concerted DOJ operation against Russia, with prosecutors in recent weeks revealing cases against an oligarch accused of sanctions violations, a tycoon accused of illegal campaign contributions and, now, a surreptitious effort to influence public opinion in the states United through the dissemination of propaganda.

In the midst of Russia's war against Ukraine, the Justice Department also launched a task force to enforce violations of sanctions and export restrictions imposed on Russian figures.

The prosecution describes an effort to reach inside Washington's chambers of power, with defendants accused accused of contacting at least one member of Congress five years ago to offer free rides to a conference in Yalta that they and their associates had been working to organize and promote.

The conference aimed to support Sergey Aksyonov, the Kremlin-appointed head of Crimea who had been sanctioned by the US government for his policies that threaten Ukraine's sovereignty. The congressman, whose name is not identified in the indictment, rejected the offer, prosecutors said.

The defendants are accused of trying to “co-opt” American and European politicians and of recruiting a U.S. citizen and others to help advance the interests of the Kremlin.

The effort included requesting a meeting with a member of Congress to push Russia's agenda in the United States and submitting false visa applications to travel to the US under the false pretext of a vacation when in fact they intended to hold meetings with US political figures, the accusation. Visa applications were eventually denied.

(With information from AP)

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