The US State Department is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information implicating any foreign person or entity in election interference, just weeks before Americans choose their next president.
An announcement from the department’s Rewards for Justice program specifically singled out Russian media corporation Rybar LLC, which it said uses social media “to sow discord, foster social division, stoke partisan and racial discord, and encourage hatred and violence in the United States.”
There was no immediate reaction from Rebar or Russian authorities.
The State Department said that Raybar created a channel on the X platform called “TexasvsUSA,” and used it before the US elections to exploit the issue of illegal immigrants crossing the Texas border.
She said Rebar also used the social media channels #HOLDTHELINE and #STANDWTHTEXAS to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
It confirmed that Raybar receives funding from the Russian defense industry organization Rostec, which the US Treasury imposed sanctions on in 2022.
“Rybar relies on contacts and funding from Rostec to enhance Russian military capabilities and promote pro-Russian, anti-Western rhetoric,” the announcement said.
It encouraged anyone with relevant knowledge – particularly regarding nine specific individuals said to have helped carry out REPAR’s “malicious influence operations” over the US election – to contact the Rewards for Justice Program information line.
Raybar runs a Telegram channel popular among Ukraine’s pro-war hardliners from Russia’s “Z community”, with 1.3 million followers.
It was co-founded by Mikhail Zvenchuk, a member of the Russian special forces and former employee of the Ministry of Defense, who has been under EU sanctions since June 2023.
He reports daily on battlefield developments in Ukraine, and has become one of Russia’s best-known and most influential military bloggers.
In April 2024, Zvinchuk announced the opening of a “Raibar Media School” in Serbia, saying on Telegram: “We have long studied the West’s methods of waging information war against us.
“Now is the time to apply our knowledge and teach our partners the right techniques,” he said, adding that this was “just the beginning” of this propaganda strategy in Western countries.