A high-ranking Russian lawmaker and two staffers are charged with conspiring to have a U.S. citizen act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government.
According to an April 14 Department of Justice news release, Russian Deputy Chairman Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Babakov and his staffers Aleksandr Nikolayevich Vorobev and Mikhail Alekseyevich Plisyuk, reportedly "worked to weaken U.S. partnerships with European allies, undermine Western sanctions and promote Russia’s illicit actions designed to destroy the sovereignty of Ukraine."
"The indictment alleges that a high-ranking Putin-aligned legislator and his closest staffers, all three of whom are sanctioned, engaged in a global campaign to influence and gain access to U.S. elected officials," U.S. Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in the news release. "The department will not hesitate to prosecute those who seek to covertly influence the American political process and evade U.S. sanctions."
The indictment, unsealed April 14 in a New York federal court, alleges the three Russian citizens ran a years-long operation to influence elected officials in the U.S. "by peddling disinformation to advance the Kremlin’s interests," according to the news release. The trio also allegedly used the non-profit Institute for International Integration Studies as a front to get around sanctions.
The three allegedly reached out to members of Congress between 2012 and 2017 to, among other things, ask for meetings and trying to get through to the lawmakers on board as pro-Kremlin stooges. The news release reported members of Congress "rebuffed these efforts."
“Beginning as far back as 2012, Aleksandr Babakov, an oligarch who has served as a leader in the Russian legislature along with two of his deputies, operated a nonprofit organization as a subterfuge for an international foreign influence and disinformation network to advance the interests of the Russian government," said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Michael J. Driscoll said in the release. "As alleged, Babakov sought to undermine Western sanctions - including those imposed against him - promote Russia’s illicit actions designed to destroy Ukrainian sovereignty and co-opt and cultivate relationships with U.S. politicians to advance Russia’s malign foreign policy objectives. Today’s action demonstrates the FBI’s unwavering commitment to the identification and disruption of Russian government schemes to target the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”
The three, charged with conspiring to act as unregistered agents of Russia, to violate U.S. sanctions and commit visa fraud, "are based in Russia and remain at large," the news release said.
