Russia Secretly Gave $300 Million to Political Parties and Officials Worldwide, U.S. Says

 

WASHINGTON — Russia has secretly given at least $300 million to political parties, officials and politicians in more than two dozen countries since 2014 and plans to transfer hundreds of millions more to exert political influence and influence elections, the state says. A summary of a recent US intelligence survey.

Russia likely gave even more that remained undisclosed, the document says.

"The Kremlin and its proxies have transferred these funds in an effort to shape the foreign political environment in Moscow's favor," the document says. He added: "The United States will use official liaison channels with target countries to share previously classified information about Russian activities targeting their political environment."

The State Department document was sent as a telegram to US embassies around the world on Monday to summarize the talking points of US diplomats in talks with foreign officials.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the State Department, confirmed at a press conference on Tuesday that the findings about Russia were the result of the work of US intelligence agencies. He added that Russia's election meddling was an "attack on sovereignty," similar to Russia's war against Ukraine. "In order to combat this, we have to focus on it in many ways," he said.

The State Department cables and the release of some intelligence findings represent an initial effort by the Biden administration to use the intelligence material to reveal the extent of Russian interference in global political processes and elections and rally other nations to help fight it.

US intelligence agencies have found that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in favor of Donald J. Trump, the Republican candidate who defeated Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate. His methods included using cyber operations to spread online disinformation. U.S. intelligence officials also found that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin authorized a campaign that tried to damage the candidacy of Joseph R. Biden Jr. when he ran for office against Mr. Trump in 2020.

The new document says global operations are carried out by a number of Russian agencies and individuals, including the Federal Security Service and other security agencies, as well as businessmen.

The document named two men, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Alexander Babakov, both close associates of Mr. Putin, who were involved in influence or interference campaigns. In April, the Justice Department charged Mr. Babakov, who is also a Russian lawmaker, and two other Russian nationals with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions and conspiring to commit visa fraud while operating "an international foreign influence and disinformation network to advance the interests of Russia."

Russians pay in cash, cryptocurrencies, electronic funds transfers and lavish gifts, the document says. They move money through a wide variety of institutions to protect the origin of the funding, a practice called the use of carve-outs. These institutions include foundations, think tanks, organized crime groups, political consultancies, shell companies and Russian state-owned enterprises.

Money is also provided covertly through Russian embassy accounts and sources, the document says.

In one Asian country, a Russian ambassador gave millions of dollars in cash to a presidential candidate, a document says. U.S. agencies have also found that Russia has used fake contracts and shell companies in several European countries to funnel money to political parties in recent years.

"Some of Russia's covert political financing methods are particularly widespread in certain parts of the world," the document says. He added: “Russia has relied on state-owned enterprises and large firms to covertly move funds across a number of regions including Central America, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and on think tanks and foundations that are particularly active across Europe. "

According to the document, since last year a Russian business figure has been trying to use pro-Russian think tanks in Europe to support far-right nationalist parties. The document warned that in the coming months, Russia could use its "toolkit of covert influence", including covert political funding, across wide swaths of the globe to try to undermine US-led sanctions against Russia and "maintain its influence in these areas". regions amid the ongoing war in Ukraine."

Although U.S. intelligence agencies have been studying Russian global election meddling and influence for years, the intelligence review was ordered by senior administration officials this summer, U.S. officials said. Some of the findings have recently been declassified to be widely shared. The review did not examine Russian meddling in the U.S. election, which intelligence agencies have looked into in other investigations, the U.S. official said.

Officials say one of the goals of the U.S. campaign to reveal details of Russian political meddling and influence is to strengthen democratic resilience around the world, a pillar of President Biden's foreign policy. Administration officials are focused on ensuring that nations that attended last year's Summit for Democracy, which Mr. Biden hosted in Washington, can strengthen their democratic systems. The administration plans to convene a second summit soon.

The State Department summary outlined measures the United States and partner nations could take to mitigate Russian political interference campaigns, including imposing economic sanctions and travel bans on known "financial assets" and "influencers."

The ministry also recommended that countries coordinate intelligence sharing, improve foreign investment screening, strengthen investigative capabilities of foreign political party and campaign financing, and enforce and expand foreign agent registration rules.

Governments should also expel Russian intelligence officers found to be involved in related covert financial operations.

In a summary, the State Department said it was urging governments to protect themselves against covert political financing "not only by Russia, but also by China and other countries emulating this behavior."