US Treasury slaps sanctions on 19 Russians for "destabilising" cyber attacks
By Duncan Ferris
Date: Thursday 15 Mar 2018
(ShareCast News) - The US Treasury has imposed sanctions on 19 Russians who it accuses of involvement in interference in the 2016 US presidential race and other "ongoing nefarious attacks".
Further to the 19 individuals targeted, which include the 13 individuals charged last month by Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller, five groups have also been accused of involvement in alleged cyber-attacks against US infrastructure including the energy, nuclear and aviation sectors.
Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement: "These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia. Treasury intends to impose additional [legal] sanctions, informed by our intelligence community, to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilising activities by severing their access to the US financial system."
The groups targeted by sanctions include the Kremlin's intelligence services and the St Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, which stands accused of engineering disinformation to influence the 2016 presidential contest.
The supposed head of the agency, an oligarch with close links to Vladimir Putin named Yevgeny Prigozhin, is one of the individuals targeted by the sanctions, along with 12 agency staff.
The Treasury also commented on the recent use of a Russian made nerve agent in the poisoning of a former Soviet agent and his daughter in Salisbury, calling it a sign of "reckless and irresponsible conduct" by the Kremlin.
Earlier on Thursday, the United States issued a joint statement with the UK, France and Germany which condemned the "first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War" and stated there was "no alternative explanation" to the attack being planned by the Kremlin.
A senior national security official said: "Russia's behaviour, or lack thereof, on the world stage is continuing to trouble us and we are continuing to press back in meaningful ways. By no means will this constitute the end of our ongoing campaign to instruct Mr Putin to change his behaviour."
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN