Moscow accused of cyber sabotage
sought to discredit Mr. Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, but the sanctions appeared to rely on the special counsel’s legal conclusions in deciding who should be named. The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them.
The named Russians — 19 in all — are unlikely to have any assets in the United States that would be covered, making the move largely symbolic. But it could help inoculate the president from persistent claims he’s afraid or unwilling to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin or to fight back against efforts to undermine America’s democracy and domestic affairs.
“We’re going to be tough on Russia until they decide to change their behavior,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders. At the same time, she left open the possibility of better U.S.-Russia cooperation, arguing that “if we can work together to combat world threats on things like North Korea, then we should.”
U.S. national security officials said the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and intelligence agencies determined Russian intelligence and others were behind a broad range of cyberattacks starting a year ago. Russian hackers infiltrated the networks that run the basic services that Americans rely on each day: nuclear, water and manufacturing facilities like factories.
The officials said the cyberstrikes accelerated in late 2015, at the same time the Russian interference in the U.S. election was underway. The attackers successfully had compromised some operators in North America and Europe by spring 2017, after Mr. Trump was inaugurated.
The officials said the hackers chose their targets methodically, obtained access to computer systems, conducted “network reconnaissance” and then attempted to cover their tracks by deleting evidence of the intrusions.
The hackers never went so far as to sabotage or shut down the computer systems that guide the operations of the plants. Still, new computer screenshots released by the Department of Homeland Security made clear that Russian state hackers had the foothold they would have needed to manipulate or shut down power plants.
The U.S. government has helped the industries expel the Russians from all systems known to have been penetrated, but additional breaches could be discovered, said the officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security information.
The officials described Russia’s operation as ongoing.
The U.S. accusations and accompanying sanctions mark a stepped-up attempt by Mr. Trump’s administration to show it’s adequately confronting Russia over hacking, election meddling and general efforts to compromise Western democracies and infrastructure. Mr. Trump on Thursday also joined the leaders of Britain, France and Germany in blaming Moscow for the poisoning of an exRussian spy who was living in England.
Taken together, the moves are intended to deter tampering with this year’s midterm elections while signaling to Russia that Washington will not allow its attacks to go unchallenged, officials said.
The sanctions prompted a swift threat of retaliation from Russia’s government, which said a response was already being prepared. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov suggested the Trump administration had timed the action to taint this weekend’s presidential election in Russia, in which Mr. Putin is expected to win an overwhelming victory.
“It is tied to U.S. internal disorder, tied of course to our electoral calendar,” Mr. Ryabkov was quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency Tass.