The United States Department of Justice on Friday charged a Russian woman for her alleged role in a conspiracy to interfere in the US political system. The department accused 44-year-old Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova of conspiring with others to disrupt the 2018 midterm election among other political procedures.
This is reportedly the first federal case claiming Russian interference in the 2018 election. Prior to this, Washington’s intelligence accused Moscow of meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
The criminal complaint against Khusyaynova – who lives in St Petersburg – claimed that she runs a programme called Project Lakhta to spread inflammatory content online. The department of justice said that she continues to engage in “information warfare against the United States” by coordinating a troll farm.
Project Lakhta allegedly used social media and other platforms to push opposing views on matters including immigration, gun control, gun rights, the Confederate flag, race relations, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender issues, the Women’s March and the NFL national anthem debate, said the justice department. “Members of the conspiracy were directed, among other things, to create “political intensity through supporting radical groups” and to “aggravate the conflict between minorities and the rest of the population”.”
The United States said the conspiracy programme was funded by Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin and the two companies he controls.
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