Elena Branson (1961-) was a Russian-American community activist who founded the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in the United States (CCORC) and was, on 8 March 2022, charged with acting as a spy in the United States, running organizations that sought to spread Russian propaganda and influence Donald Trump.
Biography[]
Elena Chernykh was born in the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union in 1961, and she emigrated to the United States in 1991 and became a US citizen in 1999. In 2011, she allegedly became an agent of the Russian government, receiving Moscow's permission to open the Russian Center New York in Manhattan in 2012, and coordinating events and public messaging on behalf of Russian officials. She also became chairperson of the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in the United States (later the Russian Community Council of the USA), which launched an "I Love Russia" campaign and attempted to teach Russian history and culture to young Americans as part of propaganda efforts. In March 2016, she was tasked with organizing a meeting with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, a project which was unsuccessful. However, she sent an email to a Trump advisor to congratulate him on his victory and invite him to the World Chess Championship. She also coordinated meetings between US elected officials and Russian officials, and, on 29 September 2020, she lied to the FBI by claiming that she had never been asked by Russian officials to coordinate any meetings. Agents seized 34 electronic devices, including 11 mobile phones, from the Russian Center New York office and from Branson, and her organization was shuttered and Branson compelled to leave the United States out of fear that she would be arrested if she stayed. Fellow Russian spy Maria Butina interviewed her on her return to Russia. On 8 March 2022, she was charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying US authorities, conspiring to commit visa fraud, making false statements to the FBI, and failing to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.