MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Several US media are targeting people who are trying to improve relations between Russia and the United States in the course of a "smear campaign" based on "erroneous and unverified information from anonymous sources", the Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"We believe that the ultimate goal of these reports is to attack and smear those persons who are making an effort to improve relations between Russia and the United States," the fund said, specifically referring to a series of publications by the US internet portal The Daily Beast.

According to the statement all three reports by The Daily Beast relating to RDIF and its CEO Kirill Dmitriev contained "numerous mistakes, misrepresentations and false statements that had to be withdrawn". One report attributed direct quotes to a person who later publicly disavowed such attribution, the fund said.

"Defending its reputation against a flow of incorrect information, RDIF corrected more than 100 erroneous and defamatory reports, including through legal action outside Russia. RDIF will continue to protect its rights, including by commencing legal proceedings in any relevant jurisdiction," the statement said.

Over the past year, RDIF, the main partner of a number of sovereign funds with investments in Russia, managed to receive apologies and retractions from a number of world leading media, including the New York Times, TV channels MSNBC and Al Jazeera, Internet portals The Daily Beast, Business Insider and Huffington Post, as well as Reuters.

Earlier CNN deleted an article that said that American financier Anthony Scaramucci, during a meeting with Head of the fund Kirill Dmitriev on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, talked about possible easing of sanctions.

CNN also dismissed employees who were involved in the story, reorganized the investigation department and tightened the rules for publishing materials about the links between Trump’s team and Russia.