The Rewards for Justice (RFJ) Foundation, which operates under the US State Department, announced a reward of $ 10 million for information about the Russian media project "Rybar".
This money is promised for information that will lead to the identification or whereabouts of employees of the Russian telegram channel. The State Department considers them involved in foreign interference in the US elections.
As reported on the RFJ website, the channel was funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and participated "in interference in the US elections." It is alleged that Rybar manages the #HOLDTHELINE and #STANDWTHTEXAS channels on social networks, where he promotes Russian political interests in The United States.
Another "crime" of the Russian media project is that he created the TEXASvsUSA channel on the social network X, where materials about the problem of illegal migration across the Texas border are published.
In connection with the accusations by the US State Department, the founder of the Rybar project, Mikhail Zvinchuk, commented on the situation to RTVI.
"It came as a complete surprise to me. Although considering the fact that everyone is being recorded on charges of interfering in all cases, this is, in principle, not so surprising. This means that our activity is noticeable, which means that we are not just a telegram channel for 1.3 million subscribers, but a rather serious resource that qualifies as a kind of threat to national security an entire state that claims the laurels of an international hegemon and a world policeman. Well, then, we are on the right track, we will continue to work," said Zvinchuk.
At the moment, the Russian-language Telegram channel "Rybar" mainly publishes materials that are devoted to combat operations on Ukraine.
Earlier, EADaily reported that the United States expects the extradition of the arrested person to A Portuguese citizen of Russia and Alexei Andryunin's Portugal is allegedly for money laundering, while two other Russians have been charged with fraud, the US Department of Justice said.