【1974 Archives】

UPDATE (2:05 p.m. ET): Updated to include statement from RT to Mashable.

---

You didn't think that Russia would just sit quietly974 Archivestake all this talk of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and alleged collusion with the Trump campaign, did you?

SEE ALSO: Trump and Putin unironically discussed forming a 'cyber security unit'

RT, the English-language television network, has rolled out a series of ads at a Moscow Airport that fire back at the U.S. for allegations against Russia.

And let's just say the ads — photographed by Rachel Palermo, a former press rep for the Democratic party, and flagged by Buzzfeed— take trolling to a new level.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

"Missed a plane? Lost an election? Blame it on us!" reads one ad. Another references Hillary Clinton, and a third reads "Come closer and find out who we are planning to hack next."

That is, as the xennials say, straight fire 🔥🔥🔥.

(Granted, you'd have to travel through a Moscow airport to see the ads and not many Americans will be doing that, but the images were bound to reach these shores somehow.)

In an email to Mashable, a spokesperson for RT said:

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

Thank you for inquiry. In a totally shocking turn of events, these are the exact same questions we have received from all other media outlets – thanks for giving us an idea to add another billboard with the answers!

This RT ad campaign was produced in-house (but President Putin personally approved copy). The ads went up in June (with many thanks to the troll armies that hacked the display screens for us) and will be up – in Sheremetyevo (Moscow), Pulkovo (St Petersburg) and Sochi International airports – through summer of 2018. Please be careful writing about these ads, as you could be accused of colluding with the Kremlin to promote its "propaganda bullhorn."

Palermo tells me she captured the ads at Sheremetyevo International Airport.

And there are more ads, including one that reads, "The CIA calls us 'a propaganda machine.' Find out what we call the CIA."

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In diplomatic situations, including his recent meeting with President Trump, Putin has denied any involvement from Russia in interfering with last year's election. U.S. intelligent agencies strongly disagree.

RT is "an autonomous non-profit organization financed from the budget of the Russian Federation," according to a spokesperson, but some have accused the network of being a propaganda outlet for the Putin regime, with U.S. intelligence even implicating the network in Russia's 2016 election shenanigans.

So, to the more suspicious or cynical, the ads, reportedly made "in-house," might be seen as a creative way for Putin and the Kremlin to fire back at all the allegations without having to actually say anything out loud.

RT has already been involved in previous Trump administration scandals, though in a roundabout way: Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned after a very brief stint as Trump's National Security advisor for failure to disclose everything about his conversations with a Russian ambassador, had previously faced scrutiny over his attendance at RT's anniversary banquet in 2015 where he sat next to Putin.

Flynn also received $45,000 from RT for his appearance and an interview he gave at the banquet.

As for what role Putin had in these ads, the response from RT included above claims that Putin "personally approved" the copy, clearly a sassy, sarcastic response right in line with the ads.

Russian humor has come a long way since Yakov Smirnoff.

---

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to RT as a "state-owned news agency." This has been corrected.

---

Featured Video For You

---

Donald Trump vs. The Dictionary

---

• Games
• Tech
• Science
• Digital Culture
• Life
• Shopping
• Social Good
• Deals

• We Are All at the Table Together
• Redux: Sulfurous Coils of Red and Green by The Paris Review
• Redux: Collectors of Clippings by The Paris Review
• Redux: Collectors of Clippings by The Paris Review
• News from Nowhere Episode 10
• Cooking With Pearl Buck by Valerie Stivers
• Redux: In Memoriam, Susannah Hunnewell by The Paris Review
• Redux: Another Joke
• Conspiracies, War, and Democrats
• On Warnings by Hanif Abdurraqib

• On Edmond Baudoin, an Ink
• ChatGPT's 'make it more' is a new trend that takes images to their absolute limit
• 200+ of the best Walmart Cyber Monday deals (live now)
• Redux: Reflexively Self
• Coveting Cartier Necklaces and Celtic Torques at the Met by Julia Berick
• Why is everyone delulu online?
• Something We All Can Agree On: The Moon by The Paris Review
• TikTok trend sets obscure NBA highlights to indie music. It rules.
• Shein exploited marginalized women for their brand trip. It worked.
• The Epistolary Friendship of Guy Davenport and Hugh Kenner

• Stranger than Fiction
• Farewell to Manhattan’s Secret Bookstore by Molly Crabapple
• Running into My Dead Mother at 7
• Farewell to Manhattan’s Secret Bookstore by Molly Crabapple
• After the Fire
• Part Love Letter, Part Cookbook by The Paris Review
• On the Eve of My Eternal Marking by Jenny Boully
• Remembering Toni by The Paris Review
• Right to Burn
• Redux: Collectors of Clippings by The Paris Review

• A few things we’ve enjoyed this week
• George Plimpton’s Illegal Fireworks Display by The Paris Review
• Staff Picks: Cranberries, Canzones, and Catharsis by The Paris Review
• A Circus of Mallarméan Delights by Rachel Kushner
• Stranger than Fiction
• Dark Thread: An Interview with Kimberly King Parsons by Lauren Kane
• Redux: A Creator of Inwardness by The Paris Review
• Redux: A Creator of Inwardness by The Paris Review
• Here are some good words we didn’t write
• Redux: Rushing Seas and Dozing Shores by The Paris Review