The national government expelled Russian citizen Dmitrii Novikov from the country, identified by the Ministry of Security as part of a structure dedicated to illegal espionage and disinformation operations on social networks. The measure was announced by Minister Alejandra Monteoliva, who reported that the foreigner was put on a flight to Istanbul after a coordinated procedure with the
Argentine Federal Police.
As Monteoliva explained, Novikov used false identities and digital campaigns to try to influence public opinion. For the Government, he was not a simple foreigner with expired papers, but rather an operator linked to a larger structure of disinformation and espionage orchestrated
by the Kremlin.
From the judicial level, the expulsion was processed for a violation of the Migration Act.
Novikov had entered the country on April 12 and reported that he would retire a week later, but he finally settled in Lanús and was arrested on April 30, while he was still in Argentine territory. Based on this situation, the National Directorate of Migration promoted the administrative procedure that ended with its departure from the
country.
The case, however, is not limited to migratory issues. The case for the alleged Russian disinformation campaign in Argentina is pending before the federal court of Sebastián Ramos, with the intervention of prosecutor Ramiro González, after a complaint filed by lawyer Jorge Monastersky.
That presentation pointed to an alleged structure known as “The Company”, linked to the dissemination of false content for the purpose of political influence against the government of Javier Milei.The Russian citizen was captured in a joint operation between the PFA and SIDE.
Novikov already had a regional background. Last September, he was arrested in the Dominican Republic, where he was accused of joining an organization dedicated to the creation and dissemination of digital content for manipulation campaigns on social networks. The Dominican authorities then indicated that these operations sought to influence public opinion in different countries in the region, including Argentina
.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires rejected the accusations and maintained that Novikov denied the charges. He also described the episode as part of an alleged wave of “Russophobia
