Konstantin Igorevich Rykov (; a.k.a. Jason Foris; born 27 May 1979) is a Russian politician, head of Newmedia Stars Corporation, owner of the Goodoo production company.

Biography

Rykov was born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Since 1998 he made his mark as one of the first professional Russian Internet producers. Rykov, together with Egor Lavrov, created websites and television programs, such as the popular TV show ''Star Factory''. Since 2002, he has been working as head of the Internet department of the First Channel of the state television, where he cooperated with art

impresario An impresario (from Italian ''impresa'', 'an enterprise or undertaking') is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, Play (theatre), plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film producer, film or ...

Marat Gelman in a range of political websites. Rykov's latest media projects include the production of electronic newspapers Дни and Взгляд (Dni and Vzglyad - "Days" and "Look"), publication and promotion of controversial bestselling novelists Sergey Minaev and Eduard Bagirov, and support of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

via several websites.

Political career

On 2 December 2007, Rykov was elected as a deputy of the

Duma A duma () is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were formed across Russia ...

representing

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

as a candidate of pro-Kremlin party

United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...

. He served in the Duma through 2011.

Involvement in election interference efforts

Besides his own personal involvement in Russian politics, Rykov has also reportedly used his internet credentials and relationship with Kremlin officials to involve himself in various political campaigns and referendums in both Russia and other countries. Following Russia's invasion and subsequent annexation of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Crimean Peninsula Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrai ...

in 2014, Rykov and numerous followers flooded social networks with pro-Kremlin narratives and even directly engaged U.S. officials such as the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul. The following year, Rykov started a Russian website in support of then U.S. presidential candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, and would later boast that he was responsible for Trump's victory in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. This Russian support for Trump was part of the "sweeping and systematic" Russian interference in the 2016 elections. The Senate Intelligence Committee had "concerns" about Rykov and his role in influence operations directed against Ukrainian and United States elections. He also claimed that, though they succeeded with Trump, they unfortunately failed with

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician of the far-right National Rally, National Rally party (RN). She served as the party's president from 2011 to 2021, and ran for the French presidency in ...

. These claims, including the role of Cambridge Analytica, were posted a year before Special Counsel

Robert Mueller Robert Swan Mueller III (; born August 7, 1944) is an American lawyer who served as the sixth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from 2001 to 2013. A graduate of Princeton University and New York University, Mueller served a ...

would indict members of the

Internet Research Agency The Internet Research Agency (IRA; ; 2013-2023), also known as ''Glavset'' (, ), and known in Russian Internet slang as the Trolls from Olgino () or Kremlinbots (), was a Russian company which was engaged in online propaganda and influence ...

involved in

active measures Active measures () is a term used to describe political warfare conducted by the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. The term, which dates back to the 1920s, includes operations such as espionage, propaganda, sabotage and assassination, b ...

to win the U.S. election for Donald Trump and years before FBI indictments revealed the role of

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is a non-profit media organisation and publisher of leaked documents. It is funded by donations and media partnerships. It has published classified documents and other media provided by anonymous sources. It was founded in 2006 by ...

in deploying material hacked from the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

by Fancy Bear, associated with Russian military agency

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

, and by the FSB's

Cozy Bear Cozy Bear is a Russian advanced persistent threat hacker group believed to be associated with intelligence agencies of Russia, Russian foreign intelligence by United States Intelligence Community, United States intelligence agencies and those o ...

group.

References

External links

The Moscow Times: Rykov's publishing promotions
* 1979 births Russian male bloggers Russian bloggers Living people Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) United Russia politicians Plekhanov Russian University of Economics alumni {{Russia-StateDuma-Deputy-stub