MOSCOW, December 6. /TASS/. Washington’s new sanctions against Russian citizens have transformed into an extension of the American practice of arbitrarily assigning guilt for crimes, the involvement for which cannot be proven without any standard cooperation between security services. That practice was deliberately terminated by the US, explained Chairman of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev.
“The US Department of the Treasury is continuing its practice of “branding’ [people] guilty at its own discretion. This time, sanctions are being imposed on six Russian companies and a hacker organization, as well as individuals, among them, citizens of Russia, Greece, Israel, Spain and Ukraine. But the most important thing is to state that the cyber attacks, which have allegedly siphoned off $100 mln, were organized by Moscow,” Kosachev told TASS.
He didn't assess the nature of allegations, since he believes that such things must be the subject of cooperation between security services,” And the US has deliberately cut off such cooperation, presumably to fabricate allegations, impose sanctions and prosecute individuals around the world, unilaterally, without any explanation or transparency,” the senator stressed.
According to him, this is a “rule-based order”, which Russia is being accused of allegedly disagreeing with. “It seems to me, to put it mildly, that we have our reasons. Legal arbitrariness crosses all the lines in every sense of the word, and it can only be stopped if the international community embarks on joint efforts,” the legislator noted.
The lawmaker pointed out that Russia suggested drawing up rules for conduct and security in cyberspace, but it is the US who is not ready to discuss the issue. “It means that we have to follow the law, and not the ‘rules’, this is what the ‘world policeman’ is not satisfied with”. Well, then we will talk to others. The world is not limited to the American continent,” Kosachev concluded.
More sanctions
On Thursday, the US Department of the Treasury announced the introduction of new sanctions against Maksim Yakubets and Igor Turashev, charged with computer fraud, and certain other individuals and legal entities that are connected, in Washington’s opinion, to the Evil Corp group of hackers. Along with Yakubets and Turashev, there are 15 more individuals on the list, including citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Greece, Israel and Uzbekistan.
According to the US Department of the Treasury, sanctions have also been imposed on six Russian legal entities, which are connected to Russian national Denis Gusev, who was also a member of the group of hackers. These entities are Biznes-Stolitsa, Optima, Treid-Invest, CAO, Vertikal and Unicom companies. According to the US Treasury, Gusev was director general of these organizations and assisted the hackers in financial transactions.”
US authorities have indicted Yakubets and Turashev on charges of conspiracy, computer hacking and fraud.