DOJ indicts two RT employees for 'covertly funding' U.S. company that advanced Russian interests

The Department of Justice on Wednesday indicted two Russian nationals for spending about $10 million on a "scheme" to advance "Russian government messaging" to U.S. audiences. 

DOJ announced the indictment charging Russian nationals Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, 31, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27, also known as Lena, with "conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) and conspiracy to commit money laundering" in an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York.

According to the agency, Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are both employees of Russia Today, or RT, a state-controlled media outlet. 

“The Justice Department has charged two employees of RT, a Russian state-controlled media outlet, in a $10 million scheme to create and distribute content to U.S. audiences with hidden Russian government messaging,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement. 

"The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing," he added.

Kalashnikov and Afanasyeva are both "at large," DOJ said.

The employees were allegedly "covertly funding" a Tennessee-Based "online content creation company" to create the content to advance Russian interests.