Alexander Ionov became widely known to Russians in 2021, when, according to his statements, independent Russian media (including Meduza, The Bell and Important Stories) began to be recognized as “foreign agents” on a massive scale. Ionov did not admit that he was acting on the initiative of the FSB, it just so happened that after his complaints, the Ministry of Justice immediately reacted and included publications in its “foreign agency” list. Having learned about the existence of Ionov, journalists began to study his biography and found that he constantly finds himself somewhere near high-profile events and always as a little helper of the Russian special services.
Mercenaries in Syria
The office of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia is located in the old building of the Institute of Biochemistry and Mechanical Engineering in the north of Moscow, built back in the 90s. Immediately at the entrance – a portrait of Vladimir Putin. But in Ionov's own office, the walls are decorated with his own photographs of Bashar al-Assad and other Syrian officials, the flags of Syria, Venezuela and the Lebanese Hezbollah.
Ionov was first mentioned in the media in 2018. Then, in the province of Deir ez-Zor in Syria, mercenaries of PMC Wagner came under American fire, dozens of people were killed. Ionov was one of the first to comment on this situation, and at the same time tried to lobby for a law on the legalization of private military companies in Russia (PMCs were not formally legalized then, but with the start of the Ukrainian war in 2014, the de facto state turned a blind eye to the criminal article on mercenarism) .
Ionov claimed that he constantly travels to Syria, where he is engaged in business – mediation between Russian and Syrian firms, however, he did not specify which ones and about which goods. But he claimed to run his own private military companies. But his PMCs, unlike the Wagner PMCs, did not fight on the front line, but were engaged in commercial protection of objects.
Later, Russian journalists tried to find official traces of his business, but found only a shell company founded by Ionov – Mubashar LLC in Damascus.
Defender of Buta and Butina
When the state began to fight the Public Monitoring Commissions (POC) at prisons and replace real human rights activists with nominees, Ionov turned out to be useful here too. He was included in the PMC at the pre-trial detention centers in Moscow, and he began to position himself as a human rights activist. As Ionov himself later claimed, he was prompted to focus on human rights by the arrest of Viktor Bout, the largest organizer of the international arms trade and drug trafficking associated with the GRU.
Ionov has repeatedly admitted to journalists that the Russian state should more actively protect Bout arrested by the Americans, pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko (also accused of drug smuggling) and Maria Butina ( assistant to Alexander Torshin, one of the leaders of the Taganskaya organized crime group, connected with the Russian special services). Lastly, he helped with a public campaign in her defense, raised money for her lawyers, and met Butina upon arrival at the airport. And then he even got a job at RT. True, their friendship did not last long: Ionov entered into a production contract with her, according to which Butina had to pay him a percentage of all paid interviews and even from working fees. Maria decided not to pay, and their friendship with Ionov ended there.
Kremlin money and the institute with the military
Until 2010, Ionov had a completely different surname and even patronymic – his name was Kashiya Alexander Khvichovich. Both of his parents managed to light up in minor violations: the mother beat the pensioner, and the father was caught drunk driving. Ionov founded the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGD) back in 2011, when he was a student at the Agricultural Engineering University. But from street pickets and actions, the organization quickly moved on to holding "international" conferences and top hotels in Moscow – in the President Hotel and the Ritz-Carlton. Surprisingly, unknown to anyone, Ionov quickly began to receive presidential grants and funding from the Kremlin. At the same time, various separatists from all over the world began to come to him at events. However, for the most part, these were marginal personalities, known in their own countries no more than Ionov in Russia. So, for example, Nathan Smith, the leader of the Texas Nationalist Movement, who advocates secession of Texas from the United States, came to the Dialogues of Nations conference in 2016. In 2014, Ionov became a member of the Anti-Maidan movement, joined the leadership of the Russian Officers organization.
But his other place of work is more interesting – " Institute for Security Problems and Sustainable Development". Ionov himself said that the organization specialized in the supply of special equipment and cybersecurity. At the same time, the leadership of the institute consists entirely of former KGB officers and retired military men, which is openly written in their biographies on the organization's website .
In 2021, Ionov switched to fighting independent media and began to travel regularly to the Russian Ministry of Justice with his reports about publications and journalists. He labeled absolutely all Russian independent media as enemies of the people, which, in his opinion, spread the ideas of the West in Russia.
Four recruited Americans
Now in the US, Ionov himself has been charged with recruiting four Americans and interfering in city elections in the state of Florida. Also, a grand jury in the city of Tampa in the US state of Florida filed formal charges against two FSB officers and US citizens recruited by them.
Among the accused FSB officers are Yegor Popov, aka Yegor or Yegorka, an FSB officer and Ionov’s direct curator, as well as his boss Alexei Sukhodolov, aka Borisych, AB or Kh2 — the head of one of the divisions of Directorate 2 of the FSB Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order ( the one who participated in the poisonings of Navalny and Kara-Murza). He directly controlled the activities of Popov and Ionov. The case file also mentions two more unnamed FSB officers.
The mayor of the American St. Petersburg Ken Welch expressed his concern:
“It is important to emphasize that the city of St. Petersburg does not support, approve or tolerate any foreign government that engages in activities to undermine or influence our elections.”
“Today’s announcement paints a horrific picture of the actions of the Russian government and the lengths the FSB is willing to go to interfere in our elections, sow discord in our country, and ultimately recruit US citizens into their ranks,” said Kurt, Acting Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. Ronnow. “All Americans should be deeply concerned about the tactics used by the FSB and remain vigilant against any attempt to undermine our democracy. The FBI remains committed to countering such egregious behavior and ultimately destroying our adversaries and those acting on their behalf."
According to court documents, since October 2013, Alexander Ionov, aka Sasha, under the control of the FSB, has been trying to recruit representatives of various political groups in the United States to become agents of Russian influence. The recruits were supposed to incite various conflicts and generally destabilize the situation in the United States.
According to the prosecutor's office, the chairman of the African People's Socialist Party (ANSP) Omali Yeshitela, members of this party Penny Joanne Hess and Jesse Nevel, as well as the founder of the Black Hammer political organization August S. Romain Jr., known by his pseudonym, fell under the influence of Ionov Gazi Kozo.
The party itself is a small organization openly advocating revolution in the United States. The main points of its program are the payment of compensation and reparations to the black population of the country, as well as "the fight against the colonization of the African population throughout the continent of North America."
For example, party chairman Omali Yeshiteli claims to be fighting against US imperialism and demands that the term "African American" be banned. Penny Joan Hess has been a member of this radical party since its founding in 1976. Penny herself is white, which does not prevent her from touring throughout the United States with performances that white society parasitizes on the colonization of African peoples. And when Jesse Nevel ran for mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2017, his campaign slogan was “Unity Through Reparations.” Their counterpart from the Black Hammer Party, Ghazi Kozo, also advocates "black separatism", conservatism and political violence. In 2020, after the police killing of George Floyd, the Black Hammer, in the wake of the riots, turned from a small group of activists into a relatively well-known movement with a small number of followers.
Yeshitels, Hess and Nevel are also accused of acting as Russian agents in the US "without prior notice to the Attorney General." If found guilty, they each face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
There is also an accomplice in the case, who has not yet been charged. However, The Insider managed to find out that this is Erita Akil Keinion (real name – Akil Anai) , director of agitation and propaganda of the ANSP, editor-in-chief of The Burning Spear. In 2017 and 2019, Kenion unsuccessfully ran for the St. Petersburg city council and called for reparations for black residents in her re-election campaign. During the election, Kenion led a procession of more than 200 people through the streets of St. Petersburg, demanding reparations for the black population. The Washington Post even wrote about it.
With just 7% of the vote, Canion did not win a seat on the city council. However, she was appointed Director of Agitation and Propaganda for the African People's Socialist Party. She became the youngest member of the ANSP National Central Committee.
"Florida Tailor"
The recruited Eshitela repeatedly flew to Ionov at conferences – the same "Dialogues of Nations" in Moscow, which was financed by the Kremlin. All expenses of the Americans in Moscow were covered by the Anti-Globalization Movement. For example, in 2015 alone, Yeshitela flew to Russia twice – in May and September. After the second visit, all four – Hess, Nevel, Gazi and Yeshitel – discussed in correspondence that cooperation with Ionov was more than useful to them.
And in April 2020, Ionov invited Yesheteli to the next "Dialogue of Nations", but this time in Donetsk. As a result of the event, Ionov reported to the FSB officer Popov, and in May, on the instructions of Ionov, Esheteli filmed a video in honor of the sixth anniversary of the “DPR”.
Also from Moscow, Ionov actively helped his American "friends" write petitions, work on campaign materials, which were then distributed through their organizations, and organize actions. At the same time, he sent instructions to Yeshitel, Hess, Nevel and Erita Akil Keinionm by mail. For example, on July 30, 2015, Ionov sent a letter to Hess with the task of compiling a petition about the genocide of the African people in the United States. Hess and Nevel replied that they needed money for this, and immediately began work. As a result, this petition was sent to the UN General Assembly, the UN office in New York and the White House e-mail.
In the summer of 2016, Yeshitels and Hess, on behalf of Ionov, led a campaign condemning the US and EU for banning Russia from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. As a result, an article was published on the ANSP website with the title: “The imperialists ban Russia from participating in the 2016 Olympics! The African People's Socialist Party says: let Russia participate!
In early 2016, Ionov sent money to organize a march against the "US colonial government." Transactions were made twice: on February 4 and February 16 for the same amount – $3476.20. In July 2017, Nevel, in one of the letters, suggested that Ionov talk about financing his election campaign in the elections for the mayor of St. Petersburg in Florida.
However, sometimes Ionov only asked for the flag of his own organization, the Anti-Globalization Movement, to be displayed at the headquarters of the ANSP in St. Petersburg, USA. In February 2018, he then sent these photos to the curator at the FSB, Yegor, who sent them to his boss, Sukhodolov. In 2019, Ionov & Co. tried to influence local elections in St. Petersburg. And in January 2020, on the instructions of the FSB officer Popov, Ionov was supposed to direct all his efforts immediately to the presidential elections in the United States.
Six months later, Ionov reported to Popov that the ANSP and the Black Hammer had held demonstrations in more than 40 cities. Hess called these actions a success, and Ghazi even gave an interview to the Reedus portal. However, more serious media did not notice these American "revolutionaries".
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Throughout the joint work, Ionov constantly reported to the FSB from the beginning of cooperation until 2021.
Throw-ins against Ukraine
In 2021, cooperation between Ionov, FSB officers and US political groups weakened due to US media investigations. However, in 2022, after a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, work resumes: Ionov writes a letter about the situation in Ukraine, calling for more active forces to support Russia. Already on March 17, Yeshiteli delivered a speech at the ANSP conference: "The African People's Socialist Party calls for unity with Russia in its defensive struggle in Ukraine against colonial forces."
And on March 19, Erita Akil Keinion sends an unidentified recipient a letter with a presentation on “NATO and the Nazis in Ukraine,” written by Ionov and Yeshitel. And he signs his message: “APSP supports Russia! APSP supports Putin!” On the same day, Kenion writes a message to Ionov with a link to a shared document and adds: “This is a link to the script that we will use. There are a few questions addressed to you personally, but you can make any amendments to the discussion at your discretion.
On March 23, Ghazi and several of his associates from the Black Hammer hold pickets outside the Meta corporation building with a Russian flag and posters sent to them by Ionov. According to court documents, Ionov paid them almost $3,000 worth of tickets from Atlanta to San Francisco.
In May, Gazi holds a rally in honor of the Victory Day, and the Black Hammer publishes a call on its website: “Feed our people, not Ukraine.”
Since June 2022, the Black Hammer, under the control of the ADR, has been spreading disinformation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That same month, Ghazi and Ionov create a plan for a demonstration outside the Georgia Capitol. Ionov promises to cover events in some Irish media and on a news site in Italy. In the video, Gazi declares that he is not ashamed to declare the friendship of the Black Hammer with the Kremlin.
It is not known whether the defendants were aware that they were financed by the Russian special services, which, in fact, need their activities only for beautiful reporting. Probably, they could guess about it, but do not attach much importance. However, after the storming of the Capitol, which was attended by many small, notorious activist groups, the American intelligence services began to take the political marginals of the right and left more seriously, realizing that the Kremlin could try to use them to organize riots during the upcoming elections, which will be held next year. . One way or another, but in the end, through the fault of Ionov, not only Russian journalists, but also American activists got into serious problems with the law.
In a conversation with The Insider, Ionov denied that he was connected with the FSB, and stated that he was not familiar with the said FSB agents.