The Naked Pravda

Opinion journalism on Russia has become a high-stakes enterprise since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, shaped by audiences sharply divided by politics and geography. At the center of these pressures are editors tasked with deciding which arguments deserve a platform, how much context readers need, and what constitutes responsible discourse. Few desks confront these challenges more directly than the opinion section of The Moscow Times. Against that backdrop, The Naked Pravda spoke with Charlie Hancock, the outlet’s opinion editor, about how the job has changed in recent years. In the interview, Hancock describes her path into Russia-focused journalism, the unexpected editorial challenges that emerged early in the war, and the debates that now shape opinion writing on Russia. She also discusses navigating legal and political constraints, handling reader criticism, and balancing sharply divergent viewpoints while maintaining editorial coherence — and her own sanity. Timestamps for this episode: (3:16) Unexpected editorial challenges(6:58) Handling criticism and reader engagement(8:36) Publishing under Russian state repression(18:35) Navigating legal and political constraints(20:39) Balancing diverse opinionsКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Earlier this year, Telegram raised $1.7 billion from convertible bonds — funds earmarked to pay off debt due next year, leaving about $745 million in surplus. In December 2024, in its first profitable year, the company reportedly earned a profit of $540 million on revenue of $1.4 billion. This year, Telegram’s profits are expected to top $700 million on $2 billion in revenue. The social network reportedly has more than 1 billion monthly active users, including 15 million paid subscribers — a figure that has doubled over the past year. In November 2025, the French authorities fully lifted their travel ban on billionaire Pavel Durov, Telegram’s founder and CEO, who was arrested in Paris in August 2024 on charges alleging complicity in crimes facilitated through the platform. In the past two years, Durov has granted hours-long interviews to podcaster and YouTuber Lex Fridman and American journalist Tucker Carlson. Durov also spent two days talking to Russian journalist Nikolay Kononov, who recently published a new book that updates his “14-year investigation into Pavel Durov’s strategy and mindset, and the epic of Telegram.” The book, The Populist: The Untold Story of Pavel Durov and Telegram, is now available in English. Kononov spoke with The Naked Pravda about Durov’s conservative political views, his uncompromising managerial style, and Telegram’s efforts to navigate regulatory risks while expanding its global user base.  Timestamps for this episode: (2:22) Tech feudalism vs. late capitalism(12:28) Telegram moderation politics(16:15) Telegram’s cryptocurrency journey(22:13) The future of Telegram and Pavel Durov’s vision(30:38) Durov’s mindset in 2025Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been without a chief of staff for more than a week. His former right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, resigned on November 28, hours after anti-corruption agents raided his apartment in Kyiv. The investigators were looking into a $100-million kickback scheme in Ukraine’s energy sector that has already cost several high-level officials their posts. The timing of the biggest political scandal of Zelensky’s presidency couldn’t have been worse: news of the scheme broke just as the Trump administration pushed ahead with another round of talks to end Russia’s war against Ukraine. Among his many other roles, Yermak was Ukraine’s lead peace negotiator. To put this enormous shake-up into context, Meduza senior news editor Sam Breazeale spoke to journalist Simon Shuster. A Ukraine expert and staff writer at The Atlantic, Shuster interviewed Yermak the day before his resignation. He also enjoyed extensive access to Zelensky and his circle while writing his 2024 biography The Showman: Inside the Invasion That Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky. Originally published in English, The Showman is now also available in Russian from Meduza’s own publishing house. Timestamps for this episode: (1:39) The Zelensky administration without Yermak(5:40) The role of martial law(9:09) Negotiations and peace talks(22:57) Zelensky’s transformation and future(29:59) The governance challenges of wartime corruptionКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Belarusian pro-democracy activist Andrei Sannikov recently joined Beet editor Eilish Hart for a conversation recorded on the sidelines of the Halifax International Security Forum. The interview focused on the Trump administration’s growing engagement with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, including efforts to secure the release of more than a thousand political prisoners. In these negotiations, Lukashenko has leveraged a tactic honed by his regime over decades of authoritarian rule. Sannikov knows the consequences of that system firsthand. He ran against Lukashenko in the 2010 presidential election, was badly beaten by riot police, and served time in prison after protests erupted over the rigged vote. From exile, he has watched Minsk turn prisoner releases into bargaining chips, trading a few high-profile dissidents for sanctions relief and then refilling the prisons with new detainees. Against the backdrop of Trump’s second term and renewed U.S.–Belarus engagement, Sannikov warned that Washington risks falling into a familiar trap. While the White House celebrates diplomatic “breakthroughs,” Lukashenko continues to imprison more Belarusians than he frees, raising the unsettling question of whether outreach to Minsk delivers any real progress or merely legitimizes repression. Timestamps for this episode: (3:06) Trump’s second term and Belarus relations(9:48) Lukashenko’s role in the Ukraine war(11:17) The geopolitical impact of Belarus breaking isolation(15:13) The future of Belarus: Neutrality vs. alliances(21:52) The importance of political prisoners and democratic resistanceКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In his 2024 state-of-the-nation address, Vladimir Putin declared that the word “elite” had lost much of its credibility. Russia’s “real elite,” he said, are those who serve their country: “the workers and warriors, reliable, trustworthy people who have proven their loyalty to Russia through their deeds.”  It’s safe to assume that these words sent a chill through Russia’s elite circles, where top officials, business leaders, and military figures have been jockeying to hold on to their positions for nearly four years of wartime.  With Putin laser-focused on winning the war against Ukraine, anyone who impedes that goal is at risk of finding themselves on the chopping block. Long-serving officials have fallen out of favor, while ultra-patriotic hardliners are rising to the top, leaving Putin surrounded by sycophants. But concentrating so much power in one 73-year-old man poses some obvious risks for Russia’s political system. For more insight into how Putin’s war effort has changed the rules for Russia’s “old elites” and made them fear the prospect of peace, The Naked Pravda spoke to Farida Rustamova, an independent journalist who covers politics and power in Russia and writes the Substack newsletter Faridaily. Time stamps for this episode: (2:42 The Shift in Russian Political Dynamics04:54 Meduza’s Daily Newsletter Plug05:41 Medvedev’s Transformation and Elite Adaptation07:11 Fear and Repression Among Russian Officials11:59 High-Level Shakeups and Political Loyalty19:50 Concerns Over War’s End and Future Chaos25:32 Skepticism About Peace Talks and Putin’s Image27:56 Putin’s Concentration of Power and Future of PutinismКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

More than 500,000 Russians were granted visas to the European Union’s Schengen zone in 2024 — nearly half of which allow for multiple entry over many years. The visitor numbers are down by 90 percent compared with pre-pandemic 2019, but half a million people still isn’t nothing. And it’s about to seem astronomical, following a recent decision by the European Union to introduce a ban on multi-entry visas to the Schengen zone for Russian citizens. Many have welcomed the E.U.’s new policy as long overdue, justifying the restrictions as a commonsense security measure and a morally righteous punishment for the citizens of a state terrorizing the continent and making war in Ukraine. That has not been the response from most Russian activists and journalists, however. For these people, Europe’s new multi-entry visa police will shatter the workflows and evacuation plans that had made it possible to continue limited forms of independent reporting and activism inside Russia. To learn more about these repercussions, The Naked Pravda spoke to journalist and activist Elena Kostyuchenko, author of the 2023 book I Love Russia: Reporting From a Lost Country. In a November 10 social media post, Kostyuchenko laid out why her colleagues are “panicking” about the new E.U. visa policy. She joined Meduza’s podcast to break it down further. Timestamps for this episode: (4:18) Challenges faced by Russian activists investigating war crimes against Ukraine(9:10) The European Union as a safe haven(19:14) Middle-class Russians and visa policies(25:16) Security concerns about the exiled opposition and espionage in EuropeКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Journalist Julia Ioffe returns to The Naked Pravda to discuss her new book, Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy, which was recently listed as a finalist for the National Book Award. Julia describes her years-long writing process, the blending of memoir and historical analysis, and the unique perspective provided by the narratives of women from the top echelons of Soviet and Russian society. The episode provides a detailed look at the complexities of Soviet and Russian feminism, making it a must-listen for anyone interested in this history and gender studies. Timestamps for this episode: (2:25) Chronological structure and key figures(6:07) Stalin’s daughter: A metaphor for Russia(9:49) Challenges of historical accuracy(18:09) Balancing American paradigms and Russian perspectives(29:22) Class and cultural differencesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has now passed the three-and-a-half-year mark, and there is still no end in sight. The Trump administration’s recent push to negotiate a ceasefire ground to a halt in early September, after Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky rejected Vladimir Putin’s proposal to meet in Moscow, dismissing the invitation as a sign that his Russian counterpart has no desire to negotiate. Meanwhile, on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russian troops are continuing their offensive in central Donbas. While Ukrainian forces have succeeded in slowing their advance, this has come at the cost of Kyiv’s defenses elsewhere, creating vulnerable gaps between frontline positions that Russian forces can slip through. With the front line becoming increasingly fluid and peace talks stalled, Russia has also continued to launch deadly missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian cities, targeting the country’s energy grid ahead of the approaching winter months.  By all appearances, Putin believes that if Russia’s military keeps pushing forward, it will eventually outlast and overpower Ukraine. But how much longer can the Kremlin sustain its war machine?  In a new report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), senior fellow Maria Snegovaya and Europe, Russia, and Eurasia program director Max Bergmann break down the mounting costs of Russia’s war effort and outline four plausible scenarios for the war’s next chapter. Dr. Maria Snegovaya joins this episode of The Naked Pravda to discuss their analysis. Time stamps for this episode: (2:05) The current state of the Russia–Ukraine war(4:49) Russia’s war strategy and unchanging goals(8:03) How sustainable is this war for the Kremlin?(13:12) How Russia is replenishing its military losses(17:30) Potential scenarios for the war’s future(26:55) Strategies for Ukraine and Western alliesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In recent weeks, Estonia, Poland, and Romania have reported breaches of their airspace by Russian aircraft. Just this week, Norway revealed that Russian aircraft have violated its airspace three times this year after more than a decade without such intrusions. Last week, three Russian fighter jets reportedly violated Estonian airspace for 12 minutes, flying miles deep into Estonian territory with their transponders off. The most extreme incident was in Poland, where NATO allies shot down four of roughly 19 Russian drones that wandered in from Belarus. Warsaw vows to shoot down any more Russian aircraft that violate its airspace, setting the stage for an incident similar to what happened nearly 10 years ago, when the Turkish Air Force downed a Russian bomber near the Syrian–Turkish border. The Naked Pravda spoke to Dr. Olga Oliker, the program director for Europe and Central Asia at Crisis Group, about the escalating tensions in Eastern Europe and how the situation compares to the downed bomber in Syria in November 2015. Timestamps for this episode: (4:31) The dynamics of Russia’s airspace incursions and NATO’s response(9:22) Escalation risks and strategic implications(15:07) Comparing past and present: Lessons from 2015(20:27) NATO’s preparedness and future strategiesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

On June 25, NATO leaders agreed at their annual summit on a goal of spending five percent of their gross domestic product on defense, more than doubling the old two-percent target. It’s unclear how many members will actually reach this goal. Even the target relies on some creative accounting: of the five percent, only 3.5 percent is pledged to what officials call “pure” defense spending, with the remainder going to security and defense-related “critical infrastructure.” Ahead of the NATO summit, The New Yorker published “Collective Punishment: Why is Donald Trump upending America’s commitment to NATO?” a story by contributing writer Joshua Yaffa, the author of the 2021 Orwell Prize-winning book “Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin’s Russia.” In his new article, Yaffa describes how the looming threats of Russian aggression and American withdrawal are pressuring European leaders to reassess their approach to NATO and their broader defense strategies. He joined this episode of The Naked Pravda to discuss the story.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Historian Benjamin Nathans joins The Naked Pravda to discuss his new book, To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement (Princeton University Press, August 2024). In the post-Stalin USSR, when the regime seemed eternal and there was little tradition of resistance to totalitarianism, citizens who came up against the arbitrary Soviet justice system had to invent their own strategies for effecting change. Nathans looks beyond the familiar stories of figures like Sakharov and Solzhenitsyn to explore how the dissident movement coalesced, and what that history can tell us today.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Anthropologist Jeremy Morris joins The Naked Pravda to discuss his latest book, Everyday Politics in Russia: From Resentment to Resistance (Bloomsbury, March 2025). The conversation explores Morris’s extensive fieldwork across urban, regional, and rural Russia to understand how society has responded to the collapse of the USSR, capitalist social Darwinism, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. He shares insights into his ethnographic methods, emphasizing the importance of embedded, long-term relationships and the distinction between social suffering and geopolitical resentment. Morris also critiques the limitations and biases of polling data in news coverage and underscores the need for more diverse voices in understanding contemporary Russian society.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

The Naked Pravda interviews journalist and author Jill Dougherty about her new memoir, My Russia: What I Saw Inside the Kremlin, where she recounts her experiences studying and working in Russia. Dougherty talks about early influences, such as discovering the Russian language through an eccentric schoolteacher and later watching the Moon landing from a Leningrad dormitory. She shares insights from her decades-long career at CNN, covering key events from the presidencies of Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Vladimir Putin. Dougherty also discussed contemporary challenges in understanding Russia, restrictions on Western journalists, and the implications for future Russia experts.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Last month, as another 30 days of war passed in Ukraine, Russian activists, economists, and politicians in the exiled anti-Kremlin opposition spent much of their time arguing about a banking scandal from the last decade. The debate has been as mystifying to outsiders as it is confusing to those without an education in finance.  With help from Ilya Shumanov, the general director of Transparency International-Russia in exile, The Naked Pravda breaks down the squabbling and criminal stakes at the heart of the scandal involving Probusinessbank, the Anti-Corruption Foundation, and activist Maxim Katz. Timestamps for this episode: (5:27) The complex schemes at play in Probusinessbank(20:35) Where the Russian authorities and the FSB fit in(32:21) Political repression and legal battlesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

On October 20, Moldovans cast their ballots in both a presidential election and a constitutional referendum — and the results shocked many. In the referendum, which asked whether the country should change its constitution to include the goal of joining the European Union, the “yes” vote won by just over 50 percent. Meanwhile, in the presidential election, pro-E.U. incumbent Maia Sandu came in first but failed to win an outright majority.  The day after the vote, Sandu accused “criminal groups” of attempting to undermine the democratic process by working with foreign forces to try and buy as many as 300,000 votes. Now, she’ll face pro-Russian candidate and former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo in a high-stakes run-off scheduled for November 3.  What does all of this say about Moldova’s political landscape and future foreign policy orientation? To find out, The Naked Pravda spoke to Moldovan journalist and writer Paula Erizanu and Ecaterina Locoman, a senior lecturer in international studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute.  Timestamps for this episode: (3:05) Judiciary Reforms and Controversies(6:25) The Referendum and Its Implications(9:47) Election Day Atmosphere and Concerns(12:28) Post-Election Developments and Fraud Allegations(17:01) Russia’s Influence and Moldova’s Future(21:26) Impact of the Ukraine War on Moldova(23:14) Kremlin’s Strategy and Moldova’s Challenges(25:03) Public Opinion and the E.U. Referendum(30:37) Moldova’s Path Forward Prefer reading over listening? Subscribe to Meduza’s weekly newsletter The Beet to receive abridged excerpts from this episode. Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Earlier this week, journalists at WIRED and The Washington Post reported that a “Russian-aligned propaganda network notorious for creating deepfake whistleblower videos” appears to be behind a coordinated effort to promote false sexual misconduct allegations against vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. At WIRED, David Gilbert wrote that researchers have linked a group they’re calling “Storm-1516” to the campaign against Walz. “Storm-1516 has a long history of posting fake whistleblower videos, and often deepfake videos, to push Kremlin talking points to the West,” Gilbert explained. A few days earlier, NBC News also reported on Storm-1516, citing its work as demonstrative of Russian propaganda’s growing utilization of artificial intelligence and more sophisticated bot networks. Two days after the WIRED report, Washington Post journalist and Russia expert Catherine Belton reported on another bad actor implicated in spreading the allegations against Walz: John Mark Dougan, a former Florida cop with a long and winding record that includes internal affairs investigations, early discharge from the Marines, and a penchant for posting confidential data about thousands of police officers, federal agents, and judges on his blog, which led to 21 state charges of extortion and wiretapping. To escape that indictment, Dougan fled to Moscow, where he soon put his conspiratorial blogging skills to work, effectively enlisting in the Russian intelligence community’s “Internet war” against America. Records show and disinformation researchers argue that Dougan is responsible for content on dozens of fake news sites with deliberately misleading names like DC Weekly, Chicago Chronicle, and Atlanta Observer. Lately, he’s reportedly started using a GRU-facilitated server and AI generator to create phony videos like the deepfake video showing one of Walz’s former students accusing him of sexual abuse. With a little more than a week until the U.S. presidential election, Meduza spoke to Renée DiResta — the author of Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality and an associate research professor at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy — about Russian propaganda, how it’s evolved over the years, and how American social networks are responding (and not responding) ahead of the November 2024 vote. Timestamps for this episode: (5:00) The Role of Social Networks in Identifying Fake Accounts(9:35) Government and Platform Collaboration on Inauthentic Behavior(16:46) A Case Study: Maxim Shugaley and Russian Influence in Libya(21:45) Twitter’s Public Data Dilemma(24:25) Bespoke Realities and Content Moderation(25:57) The Tenet Media Case(27:28) The Role of Influencers in Propaganda(35:26) Marketing and Propaganda: A Historical Perspective(38:27) The Democratization of Propaganda(39:36) Name Your Poison: Tyranny or ChaosКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In the past few days, both the Zelensky administration in Kyiv and South Korea’s national spy agency have said that they believe North Korea has decided to send more than ten thousand troops to support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. On October 18, following an emergency security meeting called by South Korea’s president, the country’s National Intelligence Service released an assessment claiming that the North is sending four brigades of 12,000 soldiers, including special forces, to Ukraine, which would be an unprecedented move, if true. Diplomats in Russia and North Korea say these reports are false. Meanwhile, American officials have warned repeatedly of the growing military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, saying that Washington has observed signs of increased material support to Moscow, including both artillery shells and missiles, such as KN-23 short-range ballistic missiles that have been recovered from wreckage in Ukraine. According to British journalists, North Korea supplies Russia with about half of the approximately three million artillery shells that Russian forces use annually in the war against Ukraine. However, Western officials have expressed skepticism about the claims that North Korea is sending large numbers of soldiers, apart from smaller groups of engineers and observers. For example, just the other day, NATO’s general secretary spoke at a press conference right alongside Zelensky and directly contradicted him, saying there is no evidence that North Korean soldiers are involved in the fight. For a crash course in Russian-North Korean relations and a hard look at recent claims from the Ukrainian and South Korean governments of thousands of North Korean soldiers flooding the battlefield in Ukraine, The Naked Pravda welcomed Dr. Fyodor Tertitskiy, a lecturer at Korea University and a leading researcher on North Korean politics. Timestamps for this episode: (3:15) The historical context of North Korea’s military strategy(5:41) South Korean diplomacy(7:45) Potential military aid and consequences(9:38) North Korean diplomatic tactics(12:06) China’s role in the Russian-North Korean alliance(14:46) Russia’s weapon purchases from North Korea(19:12) The historical context of Soviet/Russian-North Korean relations(25:04) Symbolic gestures for Vladimir PutinКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

The Russian government’s new draft budget for 2025 through 2027 was introduced to the State Duma this week in its first reading. The state’s proposed spending exceeds earlier predictions, with 41.5 trillion rubles (more than $435 billion) allocated for next year alone — and that may not be the final amount. A record share of the budget is classified as “secret” or “top secret” — nearly a third of all proposed expenditures.  To discuss the draft budget, focusing on allocations to the military, The Naked Pravda welcomed back Alexandra Prokopenko, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, a former columnist for the business newspaper Vedomosti, and a former senior advisor at Russia’s Central Bank. Timestamps for this episode: (2:26) Breaking down Russia’s next round of federal spending on the military and national security(4:08) Economic implications and rising taxes(7:18) Russia’s National Wealth Fund and budget deficit(10:14) Patriotism and public-sector funding(11:54) Domestic (in)security(15:12) Lobbying and budget allocations(21:45) Western Sanctions and Russia’s economic resilienceКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Wildberries founder and CEO Tatyana Kim (who recently restored her maiden name) has been having a hell of a time shaking loose her husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, but their very public divorce is just the tip of the iceberg in what’s become a battle between some of the most powerful political groups in Russia’s North Caucasus. On September 18: Vladislav Bakalchuk tried to storm the company’s office in the Romanov Dvor business center — just a few hundred yards from the Kremlin itself. Bakalchuk has very publicly opposed the Wildberries-RussGroup merger and recently met with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to plead his case, winning the dictator’s support. At the Moscow office, Bakalchuk’s entourage had two former senior executives, but — more importantly — he was accompanied by former and current Chechen police officers and National Guardsmen, as well as trained martial artists from Chechnya, including former world and European taekwondo champion Umar Chichaev. According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, Chichaev fired his service weapon, though his status in the National Guard is a bit fuzzy. On the other side of the conflict, defending the Wildberries office was another team of police and police-adjacent men with ties to Ingushetia. According to the newspaper Novaya Gazeta, Wildberries had recently hired a private security company with ties to Ingush State Duma deputy Bekkhan Barakhoev, who, until three years ago, worked as a vice president of a subsidiary of Russ Outdoor — the smaller company now merging with Wildberries. The most important shadow figure at Russ Outdoor, meanwhile, is Suleiman Kerimov, a billionaire senator from Dagestan. The office shootout left two Ingush men dead and more than two dozen suspects in police custody, though Vladislav Bakalchuk miraculously escaped charges as a mere witness. He claims he merely showed up for a planned business meeting, but Tatyana Kim calls the incident a failed attempt at a hostile takeover. To learn more about this story and its broader political context, The Naked Pravda spoke to Ilya Shumanov, the general director of Transparency International-Russia in exile. Timestamps for this episode: (3:08) The power struggle between Kim and Bakalchuk(4:55) Suleiman Kerimov: Dagestan’s “shadow governor”(7:20) The Wildberries-RussGroup merger and its implications(9:47) Clan battles and regional tensions(21:44) The future of corporate raiding in RussiaКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Last month, the FBI raided the homes of Scott Ritter, a former United Nations weapons inspector and critic of American foreign policy, and Dimitri Simes, a former think tank executive and an adviser to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. In late August, The New York Times reported that these searches were part of the U.S. Justice Department’s “broad criminal investigation into Americans who have worked with Russia’s state television networks.” In the past two weeks, U.S. officials have taken numerous measures against Russia Today and its affiliates and accelerated police actions against Russia-based individuals and entities accused of covert influence operations, including money laundering, sanctions violations, and unregistered foreign agent work. For example, the Justice Department announced the seizure of 32 Internet domains used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns (colloquially referred to as “Doppelganger”), alleging that Russian companies used online domains to impersonate legitimate news entities and unique media brands to spread Russian government propaganda covertly, violating U.S. laws against money laundering and trademarks.  That same day, the Justice Department indicted two Russia-based employees of RT for conspiring to commit money laundering and conspiring to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act in a $10-million scheme to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate information “with hidden Russian-government messaging.” A day later, officials charged Dmitri Simes and his wife with participating in a plot to violate U.S. sanctions and launder money obtained from Russian state television. About a week later, the U.S. State Department issued a special “alert to the world,” declaring that new information obtained over the past year reveals that Russia Today has “moved beyond being simply a media outlet” and has become “an entity with cyber capabilities” that’s “also engaged in information operations, covert influence, and military procurement.” Washington claims that the Russian government embedded within RT in Spring 2023 an entity “with cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence.” Based on these allegations, Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — soon announced that it had banned Russia Today and its affiliates from all its platforms.  A day before that big announcement from the State Department, a jury in Tampa, Florida, convicted four American citizens of conspiracy to act as agents of the Russian government. Case evidence first reported by RFE/RL shows that the activists on trial secretly coordinated their activities and received funding from “Anti-Globalization Movement” head Alexander Ionov, who acted on orders from Russia’s Federal Security Service. To discuss this recent explosion of American police and diplomatic activity targeting RT and Russian covert influence operations in the U.S., The Naked Pravda spoke to RFE/RL journalist Mike Eckel, who coauthored the September 6 report on how Ionov and his FSB handlers “chatted and plotted to sow discord in the United States.” Timestamps for this episode: (5:54) The U.S. government’s coordinated campaign against Russian covert influence operations(7:18) Legal strategies when prosecuting Moscow’s malign activities(8:37) Alexander Ionov and the FSB(15:11) American activists and Russian covert operations(18:52) “Foreign agency” in the U.S. vs. in Russia(32:12) Dmitri Simes and Channel One(36:18) Scott Ritter and Russia TodayКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно