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Russia-US cyber scandal

US slaps sanctions on Russia over alleged cyberattacks

President Barack Obama said the sanctions came in response to "the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials" and "cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election"

© AP Photo/Alastair Grant

WASHINGTON, December 29. /TASS/. Washington imposed sanctions on Russia for alleged cyberattacks on the US electoral system, the US Department of the Treasury said Thursday.

US president Barack Obama said in a statement the measures were "a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm U.S. interests in violation of established international norms of behavior."

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He said the sanctions came in response to "the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of U.S. officials" and "cyber operations aimed at the U.S. election."

"These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government," Obama said.

The sanctions targeted "the GRU and the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRU’s cyber operations," the US president said while on vacation in Hawaii.

The four individuals are GRU chief Igor Korobov and his deputies Vladimir Alexeyev, Igor Kostyukov and Sergei Gizunov.

In addition, the Secretary of the Treasury designated two Russian individuals for using cyber-enabled means to cause misappropriation of funds and personal identifying information. Their names are Evgeniy Bogachev and Aleksey Belan.

Obama also said the State Department is also shutting down two Russian compounds, in Maryland and New York, "used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes," and is declaring "persona non grata 35 Russian intelligence operatives.".

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