Russian woman charged with 'conspiracy to interfere with US political system' ahead of November mid-term elections

A Russian woman has been charged with conspiracy to interfere with the US political system ahead of November’s midterm elections.

A criminal complaint from the US government charging Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, 44, was unsealed on Friday.

The document issued in Alexandria, Virginia, accused the Russian national of undertaking a key financial role in a Kremlin-backed plan to conduct "information warfare" against the United States

It said Khusyaynova was the chief accountant for Project Lakhta.

The complaint said by using social media and other avenues the participants waged "information warfare against the United States".

It said they attempted to create distrust of candidates for political office and the political system itself.

According to the filing, Project Lakhta said was funded by Russian oligarch Evgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin and two companies he controls, Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering.

Both Concord Management and Concord Catering were among the three entities and 13 Russian individuals who were indicted in February in an alleged criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper with the US presidential race.

The indictment by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said they tried to boost Trump and disparage his opponent Hillary Clinton.

Prigozhin was among those personally charged by Mr Mueller and has been dubbed "Putin's cook" by Russian media.

This is because his catering business has organised banquets for Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior political figures.

He has been hit with sanctions by the US government.

In July, Mr Mueller's office also indicted 12 Russian intelligence officers who were accused of hacking Democratic computer networks.

This was said to be part of Russian meddling in the 2016 US election.

US law enforcement and intelligence agencies said on Friday they remain concerned about attempts by Russia, China, Iran and other foreign groups to interfere with congressional elections.

They also had fears for the presidential election in 2020.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they do not have any evidence that anyone went far enough to prevent voting or change vote counts. Some state and local governments, which run polling sites, have reported attempts to access their networks.

However, officials were able to "prevent access or quickly mitigate these attempts," the agencies said in a joint statement.