US sanctions Russia for polls meddling

Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON: The U.S. slapped new sanctions on Russia on Thursday for its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election and continued efforts to hack American infrastructure.

In all, 19 individuals were blacklisted along with five entities, including the Internet Research Agency, a Russian company indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller for allegedly seeking to alter the outcome of the 2016 race. All 13 of the individuals indicted by Mueller were sanctioned, including Yevgeniy Viktorovich Prigozhin, a Russian oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as his Concord Management and Consulting LLC, and Concord Catering.

“These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in a statement.

Additional sanctions are in the works “to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities by severing their access to the U.S. financial system”, Mnuchin added.

The penalties Thursday are in response to a broad set of activities the U.S. is tying to Russia, including the NotPetya cyberattack that affected companies across the globe. The British and American governments have laid the blame for NotPetya with the Russian military. It has been described as the costliest cyberattack in history. (AA)