Russian journalists working in the United States constantly receive suspicious cooperation offers from US intelligence agencies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2021) Russian journalists working in the United States constantly receive suspicious cooperation offers from US intelligence agencies, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"Our journalists in the United States are subject to constant 'approaches' by local intelligence agencies with shady proposals for cooperation," Zakharova wrote on Facebook.
The diplomat added that lately, there was an increase in arrests of Russian journalists at US airports.
"It started in November 2018, when 20 agents interrogated Alexander Malkevich [the head of the Russian Foundation for National Values Protection] when he was flying from Washington. They copied data from his electronic devices. He was later included by the US Department of Justice on the list of foreign agents," Zakharova noted.
In 2018, the United States imposed sanctions against English-language portal USA Really and its then-chief Malkevich for allegedly inaccurate content focused on divisive political issues. The portal was designated for being owned or controlled by the Federal news Agency, while Malkevich was designated for "having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, USA Really."
Most recently, in October of 2020, RT journalist Konstantin Rozhkov was interrogated for several hours at an airport in New York. He arrived in the United States to film a documentary ahead of the presidential election. The incident has been described by the Russian Embassy as a blatant attempt of the US authorities to exert pressure on the press.
