World

Election hack: Russia to expel 35 US diplomats

MOSCOW: Russia on Friday announced plans to expel 35 US diplomats and ban American diplomatic staff from using a dacha and a warehouse in Moscow in retaliation to Washington’s sanctions, Russian news agencies reported.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted by the agencies as saying he had proposed the measures to President Vladimir Putin.
President Barack Obama on Thursday ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian suspected spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking US political groups in the 2016 presidential election.
Lavrov said Russia would not leave the sanctions unanswered and said that allegations that Russia interfered in US elections were baseless.
Fresh low
The barrage of punishment against Moscow over cyberattacks dragged ties between Russia and the United States — already at their worst since the Cold War — to a fresh low less than a month ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking charge.
Making good on a promise to punish Vladimir Putin’s government for allegedly trying to tilt the 2016 election in Trump’s favour, Obama on Thursday unveiled a broad range of steps that have inflamed tensions with Moscow and the president-elect.
US intelligence had concluded that a hack-and-release of Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton staff emails was ordered by the Kremlin and was designed to put the Republican real estate mogul in the Oval Office.
“I have ordered a number of actions in response to the Russian government’s aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations aimed at the US election,” Obama said in a statement.
In response to the hacks, dubbed “Grizzly Steppe” by US officials, Obama announced sanctions against Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as GRU, and the FSB — the KGB’s successor.
Obama said 35 Russian “intelligence operatives” based at the Russian embassy in Washington and the consulate in San Francisco have been declared “persona non grata” and ordered to leave the country within 72 hours.
US officials also moved to close two Russian compounds in New York and Maryland, while Obama warned of further covert actions against Moscow.
The Kremlin quickly rejected the US accusations of cyber-interference as “unfounded”, and vowed to retaliate.
Relations between Washington and Moscow are at their worst since the end of the Cold War, and Obama has previously imposed sanctions over Russia’s actions in Syria and Ukraine.
Peskov said Moscow would “react in an adequate manner based on the principles of reciprocity.”
He added, however, that Putin would take into account the fact that Obama only has some three weeks left in office, insisting Moscow would try not to act like a “bull in a china shop” in the hope of normalising ties once Trump takes charge.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev weighed in on Friday, writing on Twitter that “it is regrettable that the Obama administration, which started out by restoring our ties, is ending its term in an anti-Russia agony. RIP.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that “countermeasures” would be announced Friday, but later denied reports that the Anglo-American School in the Russian capital — attended by many children of diplomats — had been ordered closed.
The moves by Obama could also raise further tensions with his successor Trump, who has expressed his admiration for Putin and desire to improve ties with Russia, as the maverick former reality TV star gears up to take over in the White House.
Trump has questioned whether Russia really tipped the electoral scale, painting Obama’s accusations as a thinly veiled effort by a Democratic president to delegitimise a Republican victory.
Trump said that while he believes the US should “move on to bigger and better things,” he would meet with intelligence leaders next week for a briefing on the situation.
Obama has pointedly stated that “all Americans should be alarmed by Russia’s actions.”
Obama has also linked the fresh sanctions to harassment of US diplomats in Moscow, which Washington described as “unprecedented” in the post-Cold War era.
US officials played down the impact that sanctions against the GRU and the FSB could have on intelligence-sharing on issues like counterterrorism, saying cooperation was already limited.
Both agencies will face sanctions, along with four individual GRU officers including agency chief Igor Korobov.
In addition, the US treasury slapped sanctions on two individuals, Evgeniy Bogachev and Aleksey Belan, for “involvement in malicious cyber-enabled activities.”

The sanctions freeze any assets they may have in the United States and blocks US companies from doing business with them.
The US government is also declassifying technical information on Russian cyber activity to help companies defend against future attacks.

“The United States and friends and allies around the world must work together to oppose Russia’s efforts to undermine established international norms of behaviour and interfere with democratic governance,” Obama said.
That reflects growing concerns that Russia could target upcoming elections in France, Germany and the Netherlands.

1 on nfl’s list of prioritiesAnd in turn, AT can watch and learn from Verizon’s experience to perfect their own mobile entertainment services. Giants highlights first December gamesIt was a matter of debate last year, when the infamous illegal bat in Seattle gave the Seahawks a controversial win against the Detroit Lions. Other illustrates include White around the liner, laces whilst a heel pull tab can also be intact. I ended up hitting a burnt, felled tree on the way out of town cheap jerseys and wrecked my brand new tires.”. One of them had to win I guess so the Giants get the small boost in the ranking this week. I would like to reinforce the notion that this isn’t a nice or friendly company that I work for. Oh come on. The offensive line broke down and failed to protect Goff adequately. This is a 2.5 torque. Charlton Athletic a club of arguably similar size and heritage to Fulham, and with the same London aspect doubled their gates from 13,000 to 26,000 during their recent spell in the top flight, but last season, in the Championship, were drawing cheap nfl jerseys shop 18,500. The offensive lineman are all standing apparently not ready to run the play. 0 stars from me. Did it does not. Then we’ve got a strong safety on this side. It assigns precise meanings to various flowers so that bouquets convey specific messages, from “I like you and here are some nice flowers” to “I’m sorry all your children have to work in a textile factory and here are some nice flowers.”. I loved all the veggies and the sweet italian sausage in this. The Ministry’s Time Turners thanks to Croaker were always a little vanilla for him. In 2007, she was open about her upbringing and made it clear that a chance meeting aged just 15 with producer Evan Rogers allowed her to fulfill her destiny.The eldest of three children, Rihanna and her brothers, Rorrey and Rajad, watched helplessly as their father, Ronald Fenty, spiralled into addiction.She told the Mirorr that at his lowest, Ronald NFL Jerseys China was reduced to scoring drugs on street corners and leaving drug paraphernalia around the house, adding: ‘Even as a toddler, I learned that my mum and dad would argue when there was foil paper in the ashtray.’The situation was so dire the family barely had enough money to eat as Ronald desperately sought out his next fix.During this time, the singer took care of her brothers while mum Monica now divorced from her Ronald Replica Air Jordans worked round the clock in accountancy to keep the family.Rihanna now mixes with the cream of the music industry and titans of industry when she goes home.In 2010, she was pictured frolicking with friends on the beach, and enjoyed lunch with Universal music chief, Lucian Grainge, as well as Topshop boss Sir Philip Green and Simon Cowell.She then gave Oprah Winfrey a tour of the island during her interview in August 2012 and NFL Jerseys Cheap the TV star also stayed at One Sandy Lane.A source told Page Six Rihanna has also recently toured Manhattan properties and plans on making the city her new home in November.Most watched News videos Meryl Streep uses speech to call out Trump for his actions Donald Trump mocks disabled New York Times reporter in 2015 Man uses Yellow Pages to call repairer for his Goggomobil Sickening moment schoolboy is kicked in head and left on ground Heartbreaking moment horse cries at owner funeral Met Office: Cold weather and snow sweeps across Europe Underground passengers show off their undies for No Pants Day Mark Hamill reads Trump tweet in the voice of Joker we can Celebrities share moments from Obama presidency Five inmates injured during prison brawl at Chicago jail Student mocks Donald Trump in epic presidential graduation speech Hammerhead shark bites whaler in half as fisherman reels in.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button