Russians sanctioned for cyber attacks, poll meddling in US
WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday announced sanctions against 19 Russian individuals and five entities for meddling in the 2016 elections and carrying out cyber-attacks in America and around the world, the treasury department said.
“The administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in US elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
He added that there will be additional sanctions
The targeted individuals and entities included those indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the elections and related issues.
The treasury’s list of sanctioned targets also included Russian intelligence services, the Federal Security Service (FSB) — the KGB’S successor — and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU), which is a military intelligence agency.
US intelligence has said Russians interfered in the 2016 elections to damage Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and help her Republican rival Donald Trump win the White House. They also intended to engender disaffection among Americans for their political system.
The Thursday sanctions are also related to the February 15 Notpetya attack, a cyber-attack that the US and Britain had attributed to the Russian military. It was called one of the “most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history”.
Global shipping, trade, the production of medicines and other sectors were impacted around the wold leading to damages worth several billions.
These new sanctions are in addition to those already in place, which include measures linked to the Russian efforts to destabilise Ukraine and occupy Crimea and violation of the sanctions programme against North Korea.