On Thursday, the Trump administration blacklisted four individuals linked to Russia's attempt to influence U.S. elections. Among them was a Ukrainian deputy, whom the US authorities called a Russian agent. According to the administration, Andrei Derkach helped Rudy Giuliani in his search for dirt on Joe Biden.
Andriy Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, «has been an active Russian agent for over ten years, maintaining close ties with the Russian special services,» the Finance Ministry said. Derkach collaborated with Giuliani and assisted Republicans in Congress in an attempt to find incriminating evidence on Biden and his family ahead of the election.
“Derkach directly or indirectly participated, sponsored, withheld or was otherwise involved in foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the upcoming 2020 US presidential election. — From May to July 2020, Derkach released edited audio recordings and unconfirmed information with the intention of discrediting US officials, and also made unfounded accusations against American and international politicians, ”the statement said.
We are talking about allegedly recorded telephone conversations between Biden and the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, when he was in power. According to experts, these records are not grounds for accusations of abuse of Biden's power in Ukraine.
In a commentary to BuzzFeed News, Derkach called the US sanctions against him «revenge» by «shadow state associates» and a «preemptive response» to a press conference he said he would hold early next week to, ostensibly to expose the «corruption of the Democrats.»
“Revenge is an integral part of their regular activities against Ukrainian investigators, journalists, experts who disclose more and more new schemes of international corruption,” Derkach said.
«This information from the US Treasury Department gives me the opportunity to defend my interests in the legal field: in court.»
In July, Derkach stated that he published «only a small part of the huge number of entries.» According to him, other incriminating materials were «transferred to Ukrainian and American law enforcement agencies.»
Derkach also said that he sent materials to the Republicans in the Senate to investigate the alleged interference of Ukraine in the 2016 elections. Senator Ron Johnson's office, which heads the Senate Homeland Security Committee that is leading Biden's investigation, has denied receiving any material from Derkach.
The Ministry of Finance suggested that Derkach's actions were an attempt to influence the November elections.
“Our actions are a clear signal to Moscow and its henchmen about the inadmissibility of such activities,” the ministry said in a statement.
Derkach studied at the KGB Academy in Moscow. After becoming a Ukrainian deputy, he voted for the adoption of pro-Kremlin anti-protest laws.
In an August statement by William Evanina, director of the National Center for Counterintelligence and Security, Derkach is cited as a pro-Russian MP in the Ukrainian parliament who has spread allegations of corruption, including through publicizing phone leaks, to undermine former Vice President Biden and the Democratic Party.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Finance also imposed sanctions on three Russian citizens: Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreev, and Daria Aslanova. They were labeled as employees of the infamous troll factory or Internet Research Agency, Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin.
photo: Gage Skidmore / flickr / cc
