Sources — US midterms
Russian state and Kremlin-proxy sources targeting American audiences around the 2026 midterm elections — X accounts and RSS feeds, every source carrying a citable institutional attribution.
What this focus admits, and why — midterms monitoring. The T1–T3 attribution tiers — source vetting.
T3 attribution: some sources in this focus are documented by independent monitors, journalistic investigations, or official records that carry no designation against the source itself. Each entry states exactly what is documented and by whom; we never imply a sanction, indictment, or conviction that does not exist.
X (Twitter)
English-language X accounts addressed to American voters: designated persons, Russian state organs, state-media staff, and accounts whose link to Russian state media is documented by independent monitors or journalistic investigations (T3).
Syto monitors these accounts' public posts. Being monitored is not an allegation about the account holder. Corrections: support.specialcat@gmail.com.
| Account | Tier | Country | What it is | Attribution & sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Kirill Dmitriev @kadmitriev | T1 | Russia | RDIF CEO and Putin's 'special envoy'; runs an English-language account aimed at American audiences | US OFAC SDN since 28 Feb 2022 (alongside RDIF); the US Treasury calls him Putin's representative to American institutions
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Anya Parampil @anyaparampil | T2 | USA | American journalist; current output is mainly Venezuela and the Middle East. | Former RT America correspondent — employment documented contemporaneously. |
Ben Swann @BenSwann_ | T2 | USA | US journalist, founder of Truth in Media; former RT America correspondent. | Registered under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (DOJ eFile registration 7151, filed 2022-08-05), recording $609,792 received from TV Novosti in the initial reporting window. An Associated Press investigation (2024-10-18) put the total above $6M from RT-related entities in under two years, which he confirmed to AP; he told AP his company severed all RT ties in September 2024 following US sanctions. |
Brian Becker @BrianBeckerDC | T2 | USA | Director of the ANSWER Coalition; host of The Socialist Program. | Hosted Loud & Clear on Radio Sputnik from Washington DC — named as host on Sputnik's own show page, which is the employer's own record. The DC radio operation closed in October 2024 under US sanctions. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Chris Hedges @ChrisLynnHedges | T2 | USA | Pulitzer-winning journalist, former New York Times correspondent; author and columnist. | Hosted On Contact on RT America from about 2016 until the network ceased US production in March 2022. He describes it himself on his Substack: "My show On Contact was on RT America and RT International which received significant funding from the Russian government." He has publicly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a criminal war of aggression. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Garland Nixon @GarlandNixon | T2 | USA | Washington-DC-based Sputnik host (Fault Lines / The Critical Hour); prolific US-politics poster. | Host and author at Sputnik (Rossiya Segodnya, an EU-sanctioned Russian state outlet) — live author page on sputnikglobe.com. The attribution is the paid state-media role, not his views. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Co-hosted Radio Sputnik DC's "Fault Lines" as its progressive host, in Sputnik's own framing of the show |
Jamarl Thomas @JamarlThomas | T2 | USA | US left commentator; co-host of Deprogram. | Hosted Fault Lines on Radio Sputnik from Washington DC. He describes the job himself in a first-person essay for Black Agenda Report: "For the last 5 years, I hosted Fault Lines, the flagship show of radio Sputnik in Washington DC, 105.5FM." The DC radio operation closed in October 2024 under US sanctions. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
John Kiriakou @JohnKiriakou | T2 | USA | Former CIA officer and whistleblower; US foreign-policy commentator. | Hosted Loud & Clear on Radio Sputnik from Washington DC. He wrote about the job himself in a signed column titled "I Work for Sputnik News" (Consortium News, 2022-03-09). The DC radio operation closed in October 2024 under US sanctions. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Kit Klarenberg @KitKlarenberg | T2 | United Kingdom | British journalist; very high-volume account. | Sputnik International hosts an author page carrying roughly 100 articles bylined to him. |
Lee Camp @LeeCamp | T2 | USA | US comedian and commentator; host of Unredacted Tonight. | Hosted Redacted Tonight on RT America from 2014-05-29 until the network ceased US production on 2022-03-01. He describes the job himself on his own site ("every week for 8 years"). Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Rachel Blevins @RachBlevins | T2 | USA (Russia-based) | American journalist from Texas; based in Moscow. | RT America correspondent 2018-2021, then a presenter on RT's Boom Bust, and currently a presenter for RT International (Texas Monthly, 2022-03-14, by Forrest Wilder). |
Rick Sanchez @RickSanchezTV | T2 | USA (in Russia since 2025) | American journalist, formerly of CNN, MSNBC and Fox News; based in Moscow since 2025. | Currently presents The Sanchez Effect on RT, per RT's own press release (2025-06-09) and reporting by Mediaite. His X biography states that he is "now seen on RT". |
Russia at the United Nations @RussiaUN | T2 | Russia | Russia's permanent mission to the UN in New York; English-language framing of US and UN politics. | Official organ of the Russian state. Its disinformation posting is documented by Myth Detector (2023-09-06). |
Russian Embassy in Canada @RussianEmbassyC | T2 | Russia | Russia's embassy in Ottawa; English-language North-America-facing account. | Official organ of the Russian state. Named by DFRLab (2019-09-16) in the same campaign. |
Russian Embassy in the UK @RussianEmbassy | T2 | Russia | Russia's embassy in London; high-volume English-language commentary on Western politics. | Official organ of the Russian state. Named by DFRLab (2019-09-16) among the diplomatic accounts amplifying the #TruthAboutWWII campaign. |
Russian Embassy in the USA @RusEmbUSA | T2 | Russia | The official account of Russia's embassy in Washington — Kremlin framing of US politics addressed to American readers | Overt Russian state organ; its propaganda use of embassy X accounts documented by Detector Media |
Russian Mission to the EU @RusMission_EU | T2 | Russia | Russia's mission to the European Union in Brussels; English-language output. | Official organ of the Russian state. Named by DFRLab (2019-09-16) in the same campaign. |
Russian Mission to the OSCE @RF_OSCE | T2 | Russia | Russia's permanent mission to the OSCE in Vienna; English-language output aimed at Western readers. | Official organ of the Russian state. DFRLab (2019-09-16) documented this account launching the #TruthAboutWWII revisionism campaign. |
Tara Reade @ReadeAlexandra | T2 | USA (in Russia since 2023) | RT contributor; content aimed squarely at American voters | Granted Russian citizenship by Putin's decree in 2025; The Moscow Times reports she now works for RT |
Ted Rall @TedRall | T2 | USA | US political cartoonist and columnist; Pulitzer finalist. | Hosted a programme on Radio Sputnik from Washington DC. He wrote about the job himself in a signed column titled "Why I Work for Sputnik" (Creators Syndicate, 2022-03-16). The DC radio operation closed in October 2024 under US sanctions. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Places himself on the American left by his own political self-identification; the alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Wyatt Reed @wyattreed13 | T2 | USA | Former Sputnik correspondent, now an editor at The Grayzone | Sputnik correspondent in Washington from 2019 to June 2023 (state-media employment), per The Washington Post. Separately, leaked documents from Iran's Press TV show payments to him for occasional contributions in 2020–21 — Iranian, not Russian Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — Editor at The Grayzone, an outlet that describes itself as independent left / anti-imperialist; the alignment is the outlet's own word about itself, not our reading of his views
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Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson | T3 | USA | US political commentator; very high-volume US-politics account. | Was paid by Tenet Media, a US company that a federal indictment (SDNY, unsealed 2024-09-04) alleges was covertly funded and directed by two RT employees. The indictment does not name him, alleges the commentators did not know where the money came from, and he has not been charged. He has publicly said he and other influencers were victims of the alleged scheme. Identified as a Tenet contributor by later reporting (CJR, Time, NBC News). Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A self-described conservative commentator; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company. The alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
BreakThrough News @BTnewsroom | T3 | USA | US socialist news outlet; the current publishing home of several former Radio Sputnik DC hosts. | Documented landing place for journalists formerly employed by RT and Sputnik. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — The outlet describes its own politics as independent left / anti-imperialist; the alignment is its own word about itself |
Dave Rubin @RubinReport | T3 | USA | US political commentator, host of The Rubin Report; high-volume US-politics account. | Was paid by Tenet Media, a US company that a federal indictment (SDNY, unsealed 2024-09-04) alleges was covertly funded and directed by two RT employees. The indictment does not name him, alleges the commentators did not know where the money came from, and he has not been charged. He says he was a victim of the scheme. Identified as a Tenet contributor by later reporting (CJR, Time, NBC News). Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A self-described conservative commentator; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company. The alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
Eva Bartlett @EvaKBartlett | T3 | Canada | Canadian blogger; English-language commentary on Russia, Syria and Ukraine. | The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (June 2022) documented her RT op-eds and videos made with RT correspondents. Meta has labelled her posts with a notice stating she "may be partially or wholly under the editorial control of the Russian government". |
Jackson Hinkle @jacksonhinkle | T3 | USA (Russia-based) | US influencer based in Russia; extremely high-volume US-politics poster | Documented by monitors (NCRI, MEMRI). NCRI states explicitly that such figures are "not strategic agents, but engagement-dependent personalities" at the periphery of MAGA discourse. By his own account, quoted by Kharon, elected to the Executive Council of the Movement for International Russophiles; a regular on Russian state media
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Lauren Chen @TheLaurenChen | T3 | Canada/USA | Co-founder of Tenet Media, the US media company that a DOJ indictment alleges was covertly funded and directed by RT | The DOJ SDNY indictment (4 Sep 2024) describes roughly $9.7M in covert RT funding but names neither the company nor its founders. CNN, matching Tennessee corporate records, identified Chen as one of them. Documented, not designated; never charged herself Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A conservative commentator by her own description; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company
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Lauren Southern @Lauren_Southern | T3 | Canada | Canadian commentator writing for US right-wing audiences; low-volume account. | Was paid by Tenet Media, a US company that a federal indictment (SDNY, unsealed 2024-09-04) alleges was covertly funded and directed by two RT employees. The indictment does not name her, alleges the commentators did not know where the money came from, and she has not been charged. Identified as a Tenet contributor by later reporting (CJR, Time, NBC News). Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A self-described conservative commentator; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company. The alignment is her own word about herself, not our reading of her views |
Lord Bebo @MyLordBebo | T3 | Unknown (anonymous) | Anonymous pro-Kremlin hub; per Bloomberg it shared Storm-1516 clips, the last of them recorded in August 2025 | VIGINUM (French Prime Minister's office) lists the account among Storm-1516 distribution channels; Bloomberg (2026) counted at least a dozen such clips. The account told Bloomberg it did not knowingly spread Russian disinformation
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Michael Flynn @GenFlynn | T3 | USA | Former US National Security Advisor; very large US-politics account. | RT paid more than $45,000 for his participation in its December 2015 Moscow gala, documented by the US House Committee on Oversight (2017-03-16) from payment vouchers and financial-transaction records. This is a record of one payment in 2015; no later relationship with a Russian state outlet is documented, and he has publicly characterised Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a serious violation. |
MintPress News @MintPressNews | T3 | USA | US outlet describing itself as independent left / anti-imperialist; very high-volume account. | Documented landing place for journalists formerly employed by RT and Sputnik. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — The outlet describes its own politics as independent left / anti-imperialist; the alignment is its own word about itself |
Patrick Lancaster @PLnewstoday | T3 | USA | American video blogger reporting from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. | The Institute for Strategic Dialogue names him the most popular figure in the pro-Kremlin influencer network it studied. He carries no individual sanctions designation. |
Scott Ritter @RealScottRitter | T3 | USA | Writer whose columns RT publishes; high-volume US-politics account | The FBI searched his home (Aug 2024) in a FARA investigation over unregistered work for Russian state media — an investigation, not an indictment; no charges as of July 2026. In September 2024 he said publicly that sanctions forced him to terminate his contractual relationships with RT and Sputnik. RT has nonetheless published op-eds bylined to him since — including on 18 June and 9 July 2026 (archived copies below). Whether he is paid for them is not publicly documented
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Tayler Hansen @TaylerUSA | T3 | USA | US commentator and video journalist; US-politics account. | Was paid by Tenet Media, a US company that a federal indictment (SDNY, unsealed 2024-09-04) alleges was covertly funded and directed by two RT employees. The indictment does not name him, alleges the commentators did not know where the money came from, and he has not been charged. Identified as a Tenet contributor by later reporting (CJR, Time, NBC News). Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A self-described conservative commentator; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company. The alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
The Grayzone (X) @TheGrayzoneNews | T3 | USA | US outlet describing itself as independent left / anti-imperialist. Low-volume X account; deliberate overlap with the thegrayzone RSS feed in the same lens. | EUvsDisinfo case entries. Leaked Press TV documents reported by The Washington Post show Iranian payments to one of its staff in 2020–21; no comparable document shows Russian funding of the outlet, which does not disclose its backing. Several of its staff have documented RT, Sputnik or Ruptly employment. Founder Max Blumenthal appears on RT. Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — The outlet describes its own politics as independent left / anti-imperialist; the alignment is its own word about itself |
Tim Pool @Timcast | T3 | USA | US political commentator and podcaster; high-volume US-politics account. | Was paid by Tenet Media, a US company that a federal indictment (SDNY, unsealed 2024-09-04) alleges was covertly funded and directed by two RT employees. The indictment does not name him, alleges the commentators did not know where the money came from, and he has not been charged. He says he was a victim of the scheme. Identified as a Tenet contributor by later reporting (CJR, Time, NBC News). Addresses conservative-leaning American audiences — A self-described conservative commentator; Tenet Media was a right-wing content company. The alignment is his own word about himself, not our reading of his views |
RSS & websites
Feeds of Russian state media and of outlets with investigation-grade attribution (T3), aimed at American readers.
| Outlet | Tier | Country | What it is | Attribution & sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
RT — US coverage | T2 | Russia | RT's whole-site feed, filtered to US-politics coverage — the same outlet read through the US lens, separate from the Ukraine-focused reading in the Western lens | RT leadership OFAC-designated on 4 Sep 2024 specifically for covert US-election influence operations; EU broadcast ban; per the US DOJ, RT ran the Tenet Media operation |
Scott Ritter — Substack | T3 | USA | Long-form counterpart to Ritter's X account; 2026 output is explicitly US-midterms-flavored | Same receipts as his X account: the FBI FARA search (Aug 2024) over unregistered Russian state-media work — no charges; long-standing RT and Sputnik contributor
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Sonar21 (Larry C. Johnson) | T3 | USA | Larry C. Johnson's blog; a primary feeder of 'ex-CIA analyst says' lines into Russian state media | VOA documents Russian state media citing Johnson in hundreds of articles and TV reports to promote pro-Kremlin narratives, and a January 2024 interview he gave to the state-owned Channel One |
The Duran | T3 | International | Pro-Kremlin commentary outlet; the highest US-politics volume of the wave-1 RSS set | Investigation-grade attribution: Kyiv Independent / VSquare / Forensic News ownership reporting (Cyprus-registered DRN Media PLC); MBFC rates it a "Questionable Source", citing promotion of Russian propaganda among its reasons
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The Grayzone | T3 | USA | Low-volume, high-salience outlet; its investigations are amplified across the pro-Kremlin US ecosystem | EUvsDisinfo case entries. Leaked Press TV documents reported by The Washington Post show Iranian payments to one of its staff in 2020–21; no comparable document shows Russian funding of the outlet, which does not disclose its backing. Founder Max Blumenthal appears on RT Addresses progressive-leaning American audiences — The Grayzone describes itself as an independent left / anti-imperialist outlet
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The roster expands in waves: every addition carries a citable institutional attribution (OFAC, US DOJ, EU, EUvsDisinfo, credible monitors). This page documents exactly the sources that currently feed the product.