Russia has covertly spent more than $300m (£260m) since 2014 to influence politicians in more than 24 countries, the US has alleged. The Department of State’s allegation is based on a declassified US intelligence assessment released on Tuesday.
A senior official from President Joe Biden’s administration said: “We think this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
Russia has not publicly commented on the issue. Moscow itself has repeatedly accused the US of meddling abroad.
American intelligence “assesses that these are minimum figures and that Russia likely has transferred additional funds covertly in cases that have gone undetected”, said the Biden administration official during a phone briefing.
The official was speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US intelligence assessment released in a cable did not name specific countries or officials believed to have been targeted by Russia – but said they spanned four continents.
Credit: bbc.com
