MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. Russia’s RT TV channel said on Friday it is demanding explanations from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), a US federal agency that supervises media, for comparing it with the Islamic State militant group.

Andrew Lack, who was sworn in this week as the agency’s new chief executive officer, said in an interview with The New York Times on Thursday that “we are facing a number of challenges from entities like Russia Today [RT] which is out there pushing a point of view, the Islamic State in the Middle East and groups like Boko Haram.”

“But I firmly believe that this agency has a role to play in facing those challenges,” he said.

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan said the TV channel was outraged that the BBG’s new chief equated RT to the notorious terrorist organization. “We regard this as an international scandal and demand explanations from the US side that has allowed such a statement,” she said.

The TV channel will send letters both to the BBG, the US Department of State and the US Embassy in Russia, the press service said. The BBG has repeatedly acknowledged the high level of Russian media’s work in covering events in Ukraine, it said.

In August 2014, US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Richard Stengel told the BBG meeting that he was surprised how Russia was successful in maintaining its positions, in particular, in social networks.