Konstantin Igorevich Rykov (''Константин Игоревич Рыков''), a.k.a. Jason Foris (Джейсон Форис) (born 27 May 1979) is a Russian politician.

Biography

Rykov was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. Since 1998 he made his mark as one of the first professional Russian Internet producers. Rykov together with

Egor Lavrov Egor Sergeyevich Lavrov (russian: Его́р Серге́евич Лавро́в; born June 4, 1981, Moscow, Soviet Union) is a Russian entrepreneur who made his money in Internet-related projects, political PR, and a number of businesses in ...

created websites and television programs such as the popular TV show ''Star Factory''. Since 2002 he has been working as head of the Internet department of the First Channel of the state television, where he cooperated with art

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

Marat Gelman Marat Aleksandrovich GelmanOfficial (in the passport) Latin-graphics spelling of his last name is Guelman as in French. (russian: Марат Александрович Гельман; born 24 December 1960) is a Russian collector, gallerist, a ...

in a range of political websites. Rykov's latest media projects include the production of electronic newspapers Дни and Взгляд (Dni and Vzglyad - "Days" and "Look"), publication and promotion of controversial bestselling novelists Sergey Minaev and Eduard Bagirov, and support of

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

via several websites. On 2 December 2007, Rykov was elected as a deputy of the

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

representing

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

as a candidate of pro-Kremlin party

United Russia United Russia ( rus, Единая Россия, Yedinaya Rossiya, (j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə) is a Russian conservative political party. As the largest party in Russia, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma , havin ...

. He served in the Duma through 2011. Besides his own personal involvement in Russian politics, Rykov has also reportedly used his internet credentials and relationship with Kremlin officials to involve himself in various political campaigns and referendums in both Russia and other countries. Following Russia's invasion and subsequent annexation of

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Crimean Peninsula Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

in 2014, Rykov and numerous followers flooded social networks with pro-Kremlin narratives and even directly engaged US officials such as the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia,

Michael McFaul Michael Anthony McFaul (born October 1, 1963) is an American academic and diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014. McFaul is currently the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor in International Studi ...

. The following year, Rykov started a Russian website in support of then U.S. presidential candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

, and would later boast that he was responsible for Trump's victory in the

2016 U.S. Presidential Election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...

. He also claimed that though they succeeded with Trump they unfortunately failed with Marine Le Pen. These claims, including the role of

Cambridge Analytica Cambridge Analytica Ltd (CA), previously known as SCL USA, was a British political consulting firm that came to prominence through the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal. It was started in 2013, as a subsidiary of the private intellig ...

, were posted a year before Special Counsel Robert Mueller would indict members of the

Internet Research Agency The Internet Research Agency (IRA; russian: Агентство интернет-исследований, translit=Agentstvo internet-issledovaniy), also known as ''Glavset'' (russian: link=no, Главсеть) and known in Russian Internet sla ...

involved in active measures to win the US election for Donald Trump and years before FBI indictments revealed the role of

WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...

in deploying material hacked by Fancy Bear, associated with Russian military agency

GRU The Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, rus, Гла́вное управле́ние Генера́льного шта́ба Вооружённых сил Росси́йской Федера́ци ...

, and the FSB’s

Cozy Bear Cozy Bear, classified by the United States federal government as advanced persistent threat APT29, is a Russian hacker group believed to be associated with one or more intelligence agencies of Russia. The Dutch General Intelligence and Securi ...

group from the Democratic National Committee.

References

External links

The Moscow Times: Rykov's publishing promotions
* 1979 births Russian bloggers Living people Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation) United Russia politicians 21st-century Russian politicians Plekhanov Russian University of Economics alumni {{Russia-politician-stub