Russia, newly accused of cyberattacks
Moscow also faces new allegations of cyberattacks
against the United States, is hit with more sanctions for helping North Korea evade its own punishment.
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Tuesday imposed more sanctions against Russia — this time for helping North Korea evade international sanctions — as Moscow separately was accused anew of cyberattacks in the United States apparently aimed at undermining the midterm election in November.
The Russia sanctions were not related to the latest allegations of election interference but are the newest punitive measures in what has become a large package of penalties to force Russia to end its alleged violations of international norms and agreements.
They come amid mounting evidence that people or groups associated with the Kremlin are actively hacking U.S. political institutions, national infrastructure such as the electricity grid, and major social media outlets, with an eye toward disrupting the American democratic system.
The action against Russia also was another example of the disconnect between administration action and the president’s words. It came as President Donald Trump continued to speak ambivalently about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. In an interview with Reuters this week, Trump said, “if it was Russia,” when speaking of that interference, which the U.S. intelligence community has concluded was masterminded by Russia’s government.
Microsoft announced Tuesday that it took control of six internet domains created by a group with ties to the Russian government, which sought to trick people into believing they were legitimate sites related to the U.S. Senate and two conservative Washingtonbased think tanks that have been critical of Trump: the Hudson Institute and the International Republican Institute.
The move by Microsoft, based on court orders and executed last week by its digital crimes unit, marked the 12th time in the last two years that the technology giant has moved to shut down fake websites created by the group variously known as Strontium, Fancy Bear or ATP28.
Microsoft has shut down 84 of the group’s sites during that period.
Similarly, Facebook last month shut down 32 pages and accounts that it called part of a covert operation to stoke racial tensions in the United States.
An estimated 580 sanctions have been levied against Russian firms, entities and individuals, including a number of oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions are punishment for assorted transgressions: violations of human rights, use of chemical weapons, sabotage of elections and refusing to abide by U.S. sanctions against other countries.
Tuesday’s sanctions fall into the last category. The Treasury Department said it was blacklisting two Russian citizens and two large Russian shipping companies for using at least seven Russian-flagged vessels to illegally ship refined petroleum products to North Korea.
Under United Nations sanctions unanimously approved by the Security Council, North Korea is barred from trade in most oil, coal, minerals and other commodities as punishment for its development of nuclear weaponry and as an inducement to halt the program. So it has sought willing partners to evade the limits.
“The Treasury Department is disrupting Russian efforts to circumvent our sanctions,” said Steven Mnuchin, the secretary of the Treasury.
The Trump administration has also expelled Russian spies, closed down Russian diplomatic offices and seized Russian-owned properties in the United States. But after Congress overwhelmingly approved additional sanctions late last year as punishment for election activities, Trump only reluctantly and belatedly signed them into law, aware that Congress probably would overturn any veto.
The gulf between his administration’s tough action on Russia and Trump’s refusal to condemn Moscow or Putin has long vexed lawmakers and other White House watchers.
On Tuesday, Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell went before a skeptical Senate panel to explain U.S. policy toward Russia. Several members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, from both parties, repeatedly questioned why there was a disparity between the president’s actions and that of his administration.