On September 4, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Simonyan, two of her deputies, and several other employees of the broadcaster. On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused RT of conducting "covert information and influence operations" and engaging in "military procurement."
"The US Department of State says RT is one of the reasons why Ukraine does not have larger support in other countries. I haven't lived my life in vain. Seriously," Simonyan wrote on Telegram.
The US State Department has also tightened the operating conditions for Rossiya Segodnya and its subsidiaries, designating them as "foreign missions." Under the Foreign Missions Act, they will be required to notify the department of all personnel working in the United States and disclose all real estate they own.
The US authorities also announced restrictions on the issuance of visas to individuals they allege are "acting on behalf of Kremlin-supported media organizations." However, the Department of State refused to disclose the names of those subject to the new visa restrictions. Commenting on the new sanctions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed the measures did not target any particular individual Russian journalists, but rather the employees of the targeted companies who were involved in "covert activities."