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Putin Teases That His Troll-Factory Ally Is Just Like Soros

  • Leader reiterates denials of U.S. charges of election meddling
  • Actions of tycoon charged by U.S. are ‘personal,’ Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg

Vladimir Putin has long denied meddling in Western elections, including U.S. allegations that one of his allies backed a “troll factory” targeting the presidential vote in 2016. But this week, the Russian leader seemed to drop a hint the picture might not be so black and white.

In an interview with Austria’s ORF television released Monday, he drew a parallel to financier George Soros, who’s long been accused in the former Communist world of subverting governments at Washington’s behest.