Russia says its response to US sanctions will make ‘everyone shudder’

Russia is taking back control over the sanctions imposed on the nation by Ukraine’s Western allies. This month, under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia has begun trials using crypto for cross-border payments.

The response does not only stop with economic sanctions. Russia has threatened to take harsh measures after the United States announced sanctions against its state-funded media network RT, claiming they will make “everyone shudder.”

According to Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Washington’s efforts against public broadcaster RT’s editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan and her deputy Elizaveta Brodskaia were “an information campaign” ahead of the US presidential elections in November.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement today, “When the authorities resort to such primitive ways of influencing their voters, this is the decline of ‘liberal democracies’ […] There will be a response.” 

Russia plays reverse uno on America

On Wednesday, the US indicted two more RT employees, Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, for attempting to influence the upcoming vote.

They are accused of funneling $10 million to a Tennessee-based corporation that used social media influence to “create and distribute content to US audiences with hidden Russian government messaging.”

“It is an obvious operation, an information campaign … that was long prepared and that is needed ahead of the last stage of the electoral cycle,” Zakharova earlier told state news agency Ria Novosti. She added that the response would be harsh and would make “everyone shudder.”

We warn that attempts to expel Russian journalists from the territory of the United States, create unacceptable conditions for their work or any other forms of obstruction of their activities, including with the use of visa tools, will become the basis for taking symmetrical and/or asymmetric retaliatory measures against the American media.

Maria Zakharova

The FBI is currently investigating allegations of Iranian cyber attacks that targeted the presidential campaigns of both the former Republican president and Democrat Kamala Harris. Despite this, Washington maintains that Moscow, which intelligence officials assert has a preference for Republican Donald Trump, remains the primary threat to elections.

The US Department of State has announced that it is taking action against several employees of Russian state-owned media outlets, designating them as “foreign missions,” and offering a financial reward for information provided to the US government about foreign election interference.

It also announced that it would expand its list of foreign missions to include media company Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries RIA Novosti, RT, TV-Novosti, Ruptly, and Sputnik. This will require them to register with the United States government and disclose their properties and personnel in the country.