Washington: The outgoing Obama administration on Tuesday blacklisted five Russians, including a senior law enforcement official close to President Vladimir Putin, as the two nations’ feud over US election hacking escalated. The founder of WikiLeaks, publisher of the election-related emails, denounced last week’s US intelligence report about the hacking as a “press release.”
The economic sanctions against the five Russians are not related to the US’s intelligence agencies findings, officials said, and instead are connected to a 2012 US law punishing Russian human rights violators. Americans are banned from doing business with the men and any assets they have in the US are now frozen.
But the symbolic effect of the new penalties was more significant, following weeks of accusations that Moscow spearheaded a campaign designed to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election. And their timing was unmistakable: Just three days after US intelligence agencies connected Mr Putin directly to the hacking of Democratic accounts.
Meanwhile, Russia criticised Washington’s blacklisting as a move by the Obama administration to further sour ties.
