Mueller probe: US sanctions Russians for election meddling
Washington: The US has issued financial sanctions against two major Russian intelligence agencies along with a St Petersburg-based "troll farm" and other Russian citizens and businesses as part of the ongoing probe into election interference.
The penalties listed on Thursday on the Treasury Department's website follow Special Counsel Robert Mueller's February indictments relating to charges of meddling with the 2016 US presidential election.
The sanctions come after more than a year of criticism from Democrats and some Republican lawmakers that US President Donald Trump has been too slow to act against Russia for intruding in the election.
US President Donald Trump has consistently called Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe a "witch hunt".
Photo: APThe troll farm, called the Internet Research Agency, and all other businesses, entities and people included in Mueller's February 16 indictment were sanctioned. They include Yevgeniy Prigozhin, a wealthy Russian known as "Putin's chef," whom Mueller alleged controlled the IRA through two other businesses.
The special counsel alleged a vast scheme to interfere with the campaign through social media and help Trump win.
The Russian ruble fell to a session low in trading after the list was posted.
The Treasury Department also announced sanctions against Russia's Federal Security Service, a spy organisation know as the FSB, and its Main Intelligence Directorate, a military intelligence service known as the GRU. Igor Korobov, described as chief of the GRU, was also sanctioned, along with five other past or present senior GRU officials.
The two agencies and most of the officials had been previously sanctioned under the Obama administration.
The GRU was "directly involved" in meddling in the 2016 election through cyber attacks and was "directly responsible" for the 2017 NotPetya cyber attack, according to a statement from the Treasury Department.
The statement also cited malicious cyber attacks by the FSB including a 2014 hack that compromised millions of Yahoo accounts.
"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.
"These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia."
Bloomberg