Obama took action against Russian interference in elections
President Barack Obama retaliated against the alleged intervention of Russia in 2016 elections, receiving a response from the Russian authorities that Moscow will not remain in debt.
The Obama administration has described Russia's participation as "znachitelnoe vrednosne cyber activity" and sanctioned 4 Russian citizens and 5 Russian companies for what was the intervention. The administration has also asked 35 Russian diplomats to leave the country. This is the first time the names of Russian officials involved in the hacking were published in the list of sanctions. "Cyberactivist Russia was intended to influence the election, undermining faith in the democratic institutions of the United States, to sow doubt in the integrity of our electoral process, and undermine the credibility of the institutions of the U.S. government," reads the White house statement. "These actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated."
According to statements from the White house and the Ministry of Finance, the government has sanctioned 9 individuals involved in the alleged meddling in the election: 2 Russian intelligence services GRU and FSB, 4 separate officers of the GRU and the 3 companies that provided financial support operations of the GRU. Obama also said in the statement that the diplomats were ordered to leave the country and that they have 72 hours to leave the United States.
President-elect Donald trump - who has publicly expressed skepticism that Russia intervened in the elections, said Thursday that it is time for US to "move on" about the hack. But he added that he will meet with intelligence officials next week and will be informed on this issue. "The time has come for our country to move forward," trump said in a statement. "However, in the interests of our country and its great people, I will meet with the leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be aware of the facts of the situation."
Russia quickly reacted to the actions on Thursday. Russia will respond to any "hostile actions" that the United States will take in response to statements about hacking in the elections of 2016, reported in accordance with the official representative of the Ministry.
The press Secretary of the Ministry of foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova said that we will take similar measures in response to the expulsion, although she did not immediately provide more details. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, that Putin is "in no hurry to make a decision."
Russian News
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