Treasury says expands anti-Russian sanctions to 5 firms, 19 people

WASHINGTON, Mar 15 (PRIME) -- The U.S. has expanded its anti-Russian sanctions by including 19 individuals and five companies into its blacklist for alleged interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and other alleged cyber-attacks, including the NotPetya virus, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said in a statement on Thursday.

“The administration is confronting and countering malign Russian cyber activity, including their attempted interference in U.S. elections, destructive cyber-attacks, and intrusions targeting critical infrastructure,” the authority said quoting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“These targeted sanctions are a part of a broader effort to address the ongoing nefarious attacks emanating from Russia. Treasury intends to impose additional CAATSA sanctions, informed by our intelligence community, to hold Russian government officials and oligarchs accountable for their destabilizing activities by severing their access to the U.S. financial system.”

The authority blacklisted 13 individuals and Internet Research Agency LLC, and Concord Management and Consulting LLC and Concord Catering of Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin for alleged tampering with the elections.

The targeted individuals include Prigozhin, one of 13 Russian nationals charged with interfering with U.S. elections and political processes by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, 13 other individuals affiliated with the Internet Research Agency.

Washington also imposed sanctions on the Federal Security Service and the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) six Russian individuals under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). All of the individuals acted on the behalf or were officials of GRU.

The Russian ruble’s fall against the U.S. dollar and the euro sped up on the news. The ruble fell 26 kopecks to 57.38 rubles per U.S. dollar and 7 kopecks to 70.75 rubles per euro as of 5.30 p.m. Moscow time, according to the Moscow Exchange.

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