The US State Division is providing a reward of as much as $10 million for info resulting in any international individual or entity partaking in election interference, it stated simply weeks earlier than People choose their subsequent president.
An announcement from the division’s Rewards for Justice program particularly singled out Russian media group Rybar LLC, which it stated used social media to “sow discord, promote social division, stoke partisan and racial discord, and encourage hate and violence in the United States.”
There was no instant response from Rybar or Russian authorities.
The State Division stated Rybar had established a channel on the X platform known as “TexasvsUSA,” and used it forward of the US election to take advantage of the problem of undocumented immigrants crossing the Texas border.
It stated Rybar additionally used social media channels #HOLDTHELINE and #STANDWTHTEXAS to unfold pro-Russian propaganda.
Rybar, it asserted, receives funding from Russian protection industrial group Rostec, which the US Treasury Division imposed sanctions in opposition to in 2022.
“Rybar relies on the connections and funding from Rostec to bolster Russia’s military capabilities and advance pro-Russian and anti-Western narratives,” the announcement stated.
It inspired anybody with related data—notably relating to 9 named people it stated helped perform Rybar’s “malign influence operations” over the US election—to contact the Rewards for Justice tipline.
Rybar operates a channel on the Telegram platform that’s fashionable among the many pro-Ukraine-war hardliners of Russia’s “Z community”—with 1.3 million followers.
It was co-founded by Mikhail Zvinchuk, a onetime member of Russia’s spetsnaz particular forces and former Protection Ministry worker, who has been below European Union sanctions since June 2023.
Providing every day studies on battlefield developments in Ukraine, he has change into probably the most well-known and influential Russian army bloggers.
In April 2024, Zvinchuk introduced the opening of a “Rybar Media School” in Serbia, saying on Telegram: “We’ve lengthy studied the West’s approaches to waging info warfare in opposition to us.
“Now is the moment to apply our knowledge and teach our associates the right approaches,” he stated, including that this was “just the beginning” of this propaganda technique in Western nations.
