US announces Russia sanctions for SolarWinds hack, election interference

The White House said it will expel 10 Russian diplomats and sanction dozens of people and companies over malicious cyber activity and interfering in elections

Russia swiftly denounced the actions and warned of retaliation

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US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photos: TNS

Published: 2:01pm, 15 Apr 2021Updated: 9:59pm, 15 Apr 2021

The Biden administration on Thursday announced the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats and sanctions against dozens of people and companies as it moved to hold the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year’s presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies.

The actions, foreshadowed for weeks by the administration, represent the first retaliatory measures announced against the Kremlin for the hack, familiarly known as the SolarWinds breach. In that intrusion, Russian hackers are believed to have infected widely used software with malicious code, enabling them to access the networks of at least nine agencies in what the United States saw as an intelligence-gathering operation aimed at mining government secrets.

Besides that hack, US officials last month alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised influence operations to help Donald Trump in his unsuccessful bid for re-election as president, though there is no evidence Russia or anyone else changed votes or manipulated the outcome.

Russia swiftly denounced the actions and warned of retaliation.

The measures announced on Thursday include sanctions on six Russian companies that support the country’s cyber activities, in addition to sanctions on 32 individuals and entities accused of attempting to interfere in last year’s presidential election, including by spreading disinformation. The US also sanctioned eight people and entities tied to Russia’s occupation of Crimea.