The Justice Department indicted a Russian lawmaker and two staffers Thursday on charges of waging a propaganda campaign in the United States that was hostile to Ukraine, years before Moscow's invasion.
The lawmaker, Aleksandr Babakov, was already under US sanctions and was charged along with two aides, Aleksandr Vorobev and Mikhail Plisyuk. All three are based in Moscow and remain at large, the Justice Department said.
Babakov, who has a seat in the Russian Duma, and the other two suspects are accused of using a Russian NGO as a front for carrying out illegitimate operations as far back as 2012.
The three suspects "allegedly orchestrated a covert Russian propaganda campaign in the US in order to advance Russia's malevolent political designs against Ukraine and other countries, including the US," said US Attorney Damian Williams.
"Today's indictment demonstrates that Russia's illegitimate actions against Ukraine extend beyond the battlefield, as political influencers under Russia's control allegedly plotted to steer geopolitical change in Russia's favor through surreptitious and illegal means in the US and elsewhere in the West," Williams added.
The three men are also accused of trying to recruit at least one US citizen to help them co-opt US and European politicians in their influence and propaganda campaign to advance Russia's foreign policy.
The specific charges against Babakov and his aides are conspiring to have US citizens act as an unregistered agent for Russia in the United States, conspiring to violate and evade US sanctions, and conspiring to commit visa fraud.