U.S. Widens Sanctions Net Against Kremlin-Connected Backer Of 'Troll Factory,' Mercenary Group

[Rogue Valley]

U.S. Widens Sanctions Net Against Kremlin-Connected Backer Of 'Troll Factory,' Mercenary Group

9/23/20
The U.S. Treasury has announced sanctions against people and entities with links to the Kremlin-connected organizer and financier of the so-called Russian troll factory behind suspected assaults on U.S. and other foreign elections. U.S. sanctions have long been in place against Yevgeny Prigozhin and his previously known companies, including the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and the Wagner Group, a Russian military contractor force active in Libya, Syria, and Africa. "Yevgeny Prigozhin has an international network of supporters to spread his malign political and economic influence around the globe,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in announcing the new measures on September 23. “The United States will continue to target the ability of Prigozhin to conduct operations globally.” Prigozhin's St. Petersburg-based IRA initially gained a reputation for its alleged efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election through online influence operations. Former employees have given accounts of a workmanlike approach to producing and promoting misinformation through inauthentic online behavior and prodding Westerners into divisive debates online. Wagner is one of the best-known of several Russian private paramilitary companies that have come into being over the past decade. Wagner's operations have always been held in close secrecy, in part because mercenary activity is illegal under Russian law and in part because the group is widely believed to operate in close cooperation with Russian military intelligence.

Prigozhin is a bad apple. He owns the 24/7 Russian troll factory. His Wagner mercenaries attacked a US force in Syria in early 2018. Wagner mercs have been known to behead and mutilate prisoners in Syria.

Wagner mercenaries in the Congo murdered a Russian news crew of three that had stumbled upon their illegal diamond mine/child labor jungle operation.

 

[Ringo Stalin]

The Nordic Council of Ministers has allocated 10 million Danish krone (120 million rubles) to "strengthen democracy" in Russia and support human rights defenders. It is terrible to imagine what a human rights howl and squeal would have risen if Russia had allocated money for "the development of real democracy in Scandinavia", but against Russia this is considered not only acceptable, but also generally normal "non-interference".

 

[Rogue Valley]

More Stalinist bs from this Stalinist source.