Category Archives: Yevgeniy Prizgohin

Treasury Department sanctions alleged Russian cyber-espionage, disinformation sources

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The Biden administration on Thursday sanctioned Russian oligarchs and organizations for their role in spreading disinformation and supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, among them a news agency the Treasury Department says has ties to a Russian cyber-espionage and offensive unit. The sanctions targeted nine employees of InfoRos, a nominal news agency primarily run by the GRU, which controls the Russian military intelligence service and operates its own special forces units. According to the Treasury Department, the GRU’s 72nd Main Intelligence Information Center, a unit within Russia’s Information Operations Troops, functions as Russia’s “military force for conducting cyber espionage, influence, and offensive cyber operations” and is InfoRos’ operator. In a news release, the Treasury Department said InfoRos is a network of more than 1,000 websites which “spread false conspiracy narratives and disinformation promoted by GRU officials.” For example, in early December, 2021, Treasury officials said one Ukraine-based InfoRos […]

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U.S. drops charges against accused IRA sponsor over concerns Russia would weaponize evidence

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U.S. prosecutors said on Monday they would drop criminal charges against two Russian firms accused of funding disinformation efforts ahead to the 2016 election, amid concerns that the companies would weaponize evidence in the trial to boost future operations. The U.S. Department of Justice charged the two companies, Concord Management and Concord Consulting, in 2018 as part of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Both shell firms funded Russian efforts to use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to divide public opinion in the U.S., prosecutors said. With a trial set to begin April 6, though, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges. The abrupt change came after U.S. attorneys complained in prior court filings they would need to provide the defendants with some details about the U.S. government’s sources and methods for its national security investigation. Justice Department officials […]

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Accounts focused on African politics are linked to a Russian tycoon, Facebook says

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A Russian financier with ties to Vladimir Putin was behind three networks of Facebook accounts that worked to interfere in the domestic politics of eight countries in Africa, the social media company said. Facebook took down a total of 66 accounts, 83 pages, 11 groups and 12 Instagram pages for their part in information campaigns meant to manipulate legitimate users, the company said Wednesday. The operations focused on issues like elections in Madagascar, Russian involvement in Africa, Sudanese-Russian relations and U.S. foreign policy, Facebook said. The company’s cybersecurity team traced all of the activity to Yevgeniy Prizgohin, a businessman previously indicted by former U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller in connection with the Russian Internet Research Agency. The IRA is the so-called Russian troll farm that sought to manipulate U.S. social media users before and after the 2016 presidential election. Since then, Prigozhin reportedly has directed his energy into boosting Russia’s presence […]

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