The Rewards for Justice (RFJ) Foundation, which operates under the U.S. State Department, has announced a $10 million reward for information about the Russian media project Rybar.
The money is promised for information that will lead to the identification or location of employees of the Russian Telegram channel. The State Department considers them involved in foreign interference in the US election.
According to the RFJ website, the channel was funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin and was involved in “interfering in the US election.” Rybar is alleged to have operated the #HOLDTHELINE and #STANDWTHTEXAS channels on social media, where he promoted Russian political interests in the United States.
Another “crime” of the Russian media project is that it created the TEXASvsUSA channel on social network X, where it publishes materials about the problem of illegal migration across the Texas border.
In connection with the accusations from the US State Department, Mikhail Zvinchuk, the founder of the Rybar project, commented on the situation to the RTVI edition.
“It came as a complete surprise to me. Although, given the fact that we have indiscriminately recorded everyone on charges of interference in all affairs, it’s not so surprising in principle. It means that our activities are visible, it means that we are not just a Telegram channel with 1.3 million followers, but a serious enough resource that qualifies as a threat to national security an entire state that claims to be an international hegemon and world policeman. Well, then, we are on the right track, we will work further,” Zvinchuk said.
At the moment, the Russian-language Telegram channel Rybar mainly publishes materials on the fighting in Ukraine.