US Official Claims Russian FSB Uses RT, Sputnik To Advance Foreign Policy In Ukraine

Russia security services are utilizing the country's media outlets to falsely present Ukraine as an aggressor, a US senior official said during a press briefing on Thursday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th January, 2022) Russia security services are utilizing the country's media outlets to falsely present Ukraine as an aggressor, a US senior official said during a press briefing on Thursday.

"We know that Russia's Federal Security Service or FSB directly tasks and influences proxy media outlets to publish content that denigrates Ukraine and falsely depicts it as an aggressor," the official said. "Articles that appear on these proxy outlets as a result have made their way not only to official Russian state funded media outlets, like RIA Novosti, RT and Sputnik, but to other outlets as well."

However, the official did not provide evidence to back the allegations but re-asserted the claims as if they were a fact.

"Russian state-owned and state-directed media such as RT and Sputnik play a crucial role in how Russia uses disinformation to advance its foreign policy," the official added.

Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it is preparing to invade Ukraine and has pointed to the insecurity created by NATO's military activity in the region.

Moscow reiterates that it has no intention of attacking any country, viewing the accusations as a pretext for deploying more alliance's military equipment close to Russian borders.

The United States and its allies have repeatedly alleged that Russian media outlets are influenced by the government and have made it difficult for them to operate on US and EU soil, where they have been subject to administrative and other forms of harassment and also subject to outright hostility of politicians and proxy entities.

In November 2016, the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating the need to counter the Russian media, with Sputnik and RT named as the main threats in the document. A number of Western politicians, including US congressmen, as well as the President of France, have accused Sputnik and RT of interfering in the elections in the United States and France without providing any evidence to back their claims.