2 Russians charged with funneling $10M to Tennessee media company

(The Center Square) – The U.S. Department of Justice indicted a pair of Russian nationals for covertly funding a Tennessee-based media company.

The indictment does not name the company but details within the indictment match Tennessee-based Tenet Media, which hosts Tim Pool’s Culture War Podcast, the Tennessean wrote .

Russian state-run media outlet Russia Today employees Kostiantyn Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva are accused of funneling $10 million to the company by laundering it through foreign shell entities.

“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing,” said said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland.

The pair were employees and editors at the company, posting videos on immigration, inflation, and other topics related to domestic and foreign policy, according to the indictment.

The pair worked at the company as outside editors under the names Helena Shudra and Victoria Pesti.

Between October 2023 and August 2024, Russia Today sent wire transfers of $9.7 million to the company, amounting to 90% of the company’s deposits.

The pair are charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.