Accused Russian says U.S. charges of election interference are nonsense

Ionov denied that he had ever worked for the Federal Security Service

A Russian man charged by the United States with orchestrating a multi-year effort to use political groups to sow discord, spread propaganda and interfere in U.S. elections said the accusations against him were politically motivated nonsense, Qazet.az reports.

"These charges are complete nonsense," Ionov, 32, told Reuters from Moscow. "When I read the charges against me, I felt that I was reading some sort of artistic story."

"I did not pay any money to anyone," Ionov said. "The decision to open a criminal case against me is a political decision."

Ionov denied that he had ever worked for the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main successor to the KGB spy service, or that he coordinated his actions with the FSB.