Russia threat over hacking
Suspected agents booted out amid row
RUSSIA yesterday eyed retaliatory measures against the US after President Barack Obama kicked out dozens of suspected intelligence agents and imposed sanctions in a furious dispute over alleged election interference.
The barrage of punishment against Moscow over cyber attacks dragged ties between Russia and the US – already at their worst since the Cold War – to a fresh low less than a month ahead of president-elect Donald Trump taking charge.
Making good on a promise to punish Vladimir Putin’s government for allegedly trying to tilt the 2016 election in Trump’s favour, Obama yesterday unveiled a broad range of steps that have enflamed tensions with Moscow and the president-elect.
US intelligence had concluded that a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton staff emails was ordered by the Kremlin and was designed to put the Republican real estate mogul in the Oval Office.
“I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations aimed at the US election,” Obama said in a statement.
In response to the hacks, dubbed “Grizzly Steppe” by the US, Obama announced sanctions against Russia’s military intelligence agency.
Obama said 35 Russian “intelligence operatives” based at the Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco have been declared “persona non grata” and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours.
US officials also moved to close two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland, while Obama warned of further covert actions against Moscow.
The Kremlin quickly rejected the US accusations of cyber-interference as “unfounded”, and vowed to retaliate.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the Obama administration of trying to “definitively destroy USRussia relations which have already reached a low”.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their worst since the end of the Cold War, and Obama has previously imposed sanctions over Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.
Peskov said Moscow would “react in an adequate manner based on the principles of reciprocity”. — AFP