'We have interfered and will continue to interfere': 'Putin's chef' admits Russian meddling in US elections
7 November 2022, 15:49 | Updated: 7 November 2022, 19:18
An oligarch with close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin has admitted that the Kremlin interferes in US elections.
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Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman and mercenary boss who has been charged in the US with trying to sow discord ahead of the 2016 presidential election, said Russian hackers would continue in their efforts to distort US democracy.
"We have interfered, are interfering and will continue to interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way," he said in remarks posted on social media by his representatives.
Mr Prigozhin's admission comes after years of Russian denials that their hackers had tried to meddle in American elections.
His comments come ahead of the US mid-term elections on Tuesday, with Republicans set to take back control of Congress, and possibly the Senate, according to Politico.
Meanwhile former Republican president Donald Trump, often considered a beneficiary of interference in 2016, is widely expected to launch a new run at the White House on November 14.
Mr Prigozhin, who founded the notorious Wagner private mercenary army in 2014, was among more than a a dozen Russian nationals and three Russian companies charged with running an underground campaign on social media campaign to create discord and divide American public opinion ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
The Russians were indicted in 2018 as part of US special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into election interference.
The Justice Department in 2020 moved to dismiss charges against two of the indicted firms, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering, saying it had concluded that a trial against a corporate defendant with no presence in the United States and no prospect of meaningful punishment even if convicted was likely to expose sensitive law enforcement tools and techniques.
Mr Prigozhin had denied involvement in election interference until now.
In 2020, a major hacking issue gave cyber-criminals access to 18,000 government and private computer networks, including files from several US government agencies, including the treasury, justice and state departments.
Intelligence officials investigating the whereabouts of the attackers believe the programme was used from a location in Russia but the country denies any involvement
Microsoft president Brad Smith confirmed in February the hack, known as the 'SolarWinds hack', was "the largest and most sophisticated" the world had ever seen. The actual number of customers who were hacked was later confirmed to be fewer than 100.
President Joe Biden imposed sanctions on Russia, including the expulsion of ten diplomats, in retaliation for the election interference.
Wagner Group is a shadowy private Russian military corps that works in tandem with the regular army.
The group's soldiers are in action in Ukraine - where Mr Prigozhin has recruited prisoners including sex criminals - and have fought in Syria and in various African conflicts.
Read more: Ukraine blows up Russia's 'Wagner mercenary HQ' after street sign gives away location
The group is notorious around the world, having been accused of crimes in Africa, where a film attempting to glorify the company was commissioned despite alleged atrocities throughout the continent’s conflict zones.
The Ukrainian army blew up the Wagner Group's headquarters in the country in August.
Mr Prigozhin only admitted founding Wagner Group in September this year, after years of denials.
