The U.S. government has announced a reward of up to $10 million for information about Russian interference in U.S. elections, including the 2016 presidential election.

Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs had already appreciated Reward for ‘foreign interference’, but the names or nationalities of the suspects have not yet been released. A new call specifically identifies them as Russians at the Internet Research Institute (IRA).

The group was funded by oligarch and Putin confidant Yevgeny Viktorovich Prigozhin. In April, he was added to the EU sanctions list for supporting the war in Ukraine. He is also on the FBI’s wanted list for election meddling.

Besides Prigozhin, twelve other wanted Russians were named. They and others in this IRA group, branded a ‘troll factory’ by the media and US politicians, are already subject to US sanctions.

According to the US Secret Service, the group was central to Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election, which was won by Donald Trump. The group is said to be using multiple accounts, including social media, to spread misinformation to sow division. Even after that the group was active.