NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Thursday unsealed an indictment in New York accusing a senior Russian politician and two staff members of conspiring to illegally advance Russia’s interests in the United States.
The indictment charged Aleksandr Babakov, the deputy chairman of the state Duma, the lower house of Russia’s legislature, as well as his chief of staff Aleksandr Vorobev and staff member Mikhail Plisyuk.
Prosecutors said the defendants acted as foreign government agents without U.S. approval, by operating an “international foreign influence and disinformation network” designed to weaken U.S. partnerships with European allies, undermine western sanctions, and promote Russian actions “designed to destroy the sovereignty of Ukraine.”
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York)
