© Reuters
As promised (or threatened), the Obama administration has just unveiled - via
US Treasury - new sanctions against Russia over election hacking allegations (that as yet have not been supported by any actual evidence). Despite
president-elect Trump's comments that "we ought to get on with our lives," the
sanctions apply to five entities and six individuals. In addition, US officials are
expelling 35 Russian diplomats.
As Bloomberg reports, among those targeted were officials of GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency, which cybersecurity experts in the U.S. have linked to the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and party officials through a group they have nicknamed APT 28 or Fancy Bear. The U.S. also is sanctioning some Russian state institutions and cyber companies associated with them.
Issuance of Amended Executive Order 13694; Cyber-Related Sanctions DesignationsToday, the President
issued an Executive Order Taking Additional Steps To Address The National Emergency With Respect To Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities. This amends Executive Order 13694, "Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities." E.O. 13694 authorized the imposition of sanctions on individuals and entities determined to be responsible for or complicit in malicious cyber-enabled activities that result in enumerated harms that are reasonably likely to result in, or have materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States. The authority has been amended to also allow for the imposition of sanctions on individuals and entities determined to be responsible for tampering, altering, or causing the misappropriation of information with the purpose or effect of interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions. Five entities and four individuals are identified in the Annex of the amended Executive Order and will be added to OFAC's list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List). OFAC today is designating an additional two individuals who also will be added to the SDN List.
Specially Designated Nationals List UpdateThe following individual has been added to OFAC's SDN List:
- ALEXSEYEV, Vladimir Stepanovich; DOB 24 Apr 1961; Passport 100115154 (Russia); First Deputy Chief of GRU (individual) [CYBER2] (Linked To: MAIN INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE).
- BELAN, Aleksey Alekseyevich (a.k.a. Abyr Valgov; a.k.a. BELAN, Aleksei; a.k.a. BELAN, Aleksey Alexseyevich; a.k.a. BELAN, Alexsei; a.k.a. BELAN, Alexsey; a.k.a. "Abyrvaig"; a.k.a. "Abyrvalg"; a.k.a. "Anthony Anthony"; a.k.a. "Fedyunya"; a.k.a. "M4G"; a.k.a. "Mag"; a.k.a. "Mage"; a.k.a. "Magg"; a.k.a. "Moy.Yawik"; a.k.a. "Mrmagister"), 21 Karyakina St., Apartment 205, Krasnodar, Russia; DOB 27 Jun 1987; POB Riga, Latvia; nationality Latvia; Passport RU0313455106 (Russia); alt. Passport 0307609477 (Russia) (individual) [CYBER2].
- BOGACHEV, Evgeniy Mikhaylovich (a.k.a. BOGACHEV, Evgeniy Mikhailovich; a.k.a. "Lastik"; a.k.a. "lucky12345"; a.k.a. "Monstr"; a.k.a. "Pollingsoon"; a.k.a. "Slavik"), Lermontova Str., 120-101, Anapa, Russia; DOB 28 Oct 1983 (individual) [CYBER2].
- GIZUNOV, Sergey (a.k.a. GIZUNOV, Sergey Aleksandrovich); DOB 18 Oct 1956; Passport 4501712967 (Russia); Deputy Chief of GRU (individual) [CYBER2] (Linked To: MAIN INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE).
- KOROBOV, Igor (a.k.a. KOROBOV, Igor Valentinovich); DOB 03 Aug 1956; nationality Russia; Passport 100119726 (Russia); alt. Passport 100115101 (Russia); Chief of GRU (individual) [CYBER2] (Linked To: MAIN INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE).
- KOSTYUKOV, Igor (a.k.a. KOSTYUKOV, Igor Olegovich); DOB 21 Feb 1961; Passport 100130896 (Russia); alt. Passport 100132253 (Russia); First Deputy Chief of GRU (individual) [CYBER2] (Linked To: MAIN INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE).
The following entities have been added to OFAC's SDN List:
- AUTONOMOUS NONCOMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DESIGNERS OF DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS (a.k.a. ANO PO KSI), Prospekt Mira D 68, Str 1A, Moscow 129110, Russia; Dom 3, Lazurnaya Ulitsa, Solnechnogorskiy Raion, Andreyevka, Moscow Region 141551, Russia; Registration ID 1027739734098 (Russia); Tax ID No. 7702285945 (Russia) [CYBER2].
- FEDERAL SECURITY SERVICE (a.k.a. FEDERALNAYA SLUZHBA BEZOPASNOSTI; a.k.a. FSB), Ulitsa Kuznetskiy Most, Dom 22, Moscow 107031, Russia; Lubyanskaya Ploschad, Dom 2, Moscow 107031, Russia [CYBER2].
- MAIN INTELLIGENCE DIRECTORATE (a.k.a. GLAVNOE RAZVEDYVATEL'NOE UPRAVLENIE (Cyrillic: ??????? ???????????????? ??????????); a.k.a. GRU; a.k.a. MAIN INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT), Khoroshevskoye Shosse 76, Khodinka, Moscow, Russia; Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, Frunzenskaya nab., 22/2, Moscow 119160, Russia [CYBER2].
- SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY CENTER (a.k.a. STC, LTD), Gzhatskaya 21 k2, St. Petersburg, Russia; 21-2 Gzhatskaya Street, St. Petersburg, Russia; Website stc-spb.ru; Email Address stcspb1@mail.ru; Tax ID No. 7802170553 (Russia) [CYBER2].
- ZORSECURITY (f.k.a. ESAGE LAB; a.k.a. TSOR SECURITY), Luzhnetskaya Embankment 2/4, Building 17, Office 444, Moscow 119270, Russia; Registration ID 1127746601817 (Russia); Tax ID No. 7704813260 (Russia); alt. Tax ID No. 7704010041 (Russia) [CYBER2].
Additionally - potentially unrelated:
- U.S. TO CLOSE TWO RUSSIAN COMPOUNDS IN MARYLAND AND NEW YORK USED FOR INTELLIGENCE-RELATED ACTIVITIES - U.S. OFFICIAL
- U.S. EXPELS 35 RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS IN WASHINGTON AND SAN FRANCISCO, GIVES THEM 72 HOURS TO LEAVE - U.S. OFFICIAL
Bloomberg reports that
The FBI and Homeland Security Department will release a report Thursday with technical evidence intended to prove Russia's military and civilian intelligence services were behind hacking attacks during this year's presidential campaign, according to a U.S. official.
The documentation will be offered in tandem with sanctions that the Obama administration announced Thursday in retaliation for the breach of Democratic National Committee e-mails as Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump were campaigning for the White House. The Russian government, which has denied responsibility for the hacking, has vowed to respond to any new sanctions with unspecified counter-measures.
The joint report will include newly declassified information exposing the internet infrastructure that Russia used in the cyberattacks, including malware and computer addresses, according to the official who asked asked not to be identified before the report is made public.
The release is intended to serve two purposes: to help prove the Russian government carried out the hacking while also frustrating officials in Moscow by exposing some of their most sensitive hacking infrastructure, the official said.
Now we await Putin's promised retaliation.
Comment: US expels 35 Russian diplomats, closes 2 compounds
Thirty-five Russian diplomats have been expelled from the US, according to a senior official. President Obama described those expelled as "intelligence operatives," also announcing the closure of two Russian compounds, in New York and Maryland. The Russian diplomats would be given 72 hours to leave US soil, the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The Russian staff will also be denied access to the New York and Maryland compound as of noon on Friday, the source added.
The measures were introduced "in response to the Russian government's aggressive harassment of US officials and cyber operations aimed at the US election," Obama said in his statement, calling the measures "a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behavior."
"All Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions," the president stressed, again blaming Moscow for orchestrating hacking attacks. "These data theft and disclosure activities could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government," he said. "Moreover, our diplomats have experienced an unacceptable level of harassment in Moscow by Russian security services and police over the last year," Obama added.
Update: The
Kremlin has responded to this latest fit of madness from Washington:
"In our point of view such actions of the US current administration are a manifestation of an unpredictable and even aggressive foreign policy," Peskov told the journalists. "We regret the fact that this decision was taken by the US administration and President Obama personally," he said.
"As it said before, we consider this decision and these sanctions unjustified and illegal under international law," the presidential spokesman added. The US restrictions won't be left unanswered by Moscow, Peskov said, promising "adequate, reciprocal" reaction "that will deliver significant discomfort to the US side in the same areas."
However, he added that "there's no need to rush" with the countermeasures against Washington. "Considering the current transition period in Washington, we still expect that we'll be able to get rid of such clumsy actions... of behaving like a bull in a china shop, and that we'll be able to make mutual joint steps to enter on the path of normalization of our bilateral relations," the spokesman said.
Update 2: Time to move to bigger and better things - Trump after sanctions on Russia announced
President-elect Donald Trump has responded to the Obama administration's decision to implement new sanctions on Russia and expel 35 Russian officials from the US over alleged interference in the presidential election.
The president-elect released a statement Thursday evening, saying that the country needs to "move on to bigger and better things."
"Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated about the facts of this situation," Trump continued.
The statement reiterated Trump's comments from Wednesday night, when he spoke to journalists about reports of the impending sanctions outside his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
"I think we ought to get on with our lives. I think that computers have complicated lives very greatly," he said. "The whole age of computer has made it where nobody knows exactly what is going on. We have speed, we have a lot of other things, but I'm not sure we have the kind, the security we need."
Update 3: WikiLeaks: Obama kicking out diplomats breaches intl law, Moscow should wait till Trump in office
WikiLeaks has criticized the new package of US sanctions against Russia, saying it violates international law. The whistleblowing group, however, suggests that Moscow hold its fire till January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
"Obama's banning Russian diplomats from entering into two diplomatic properties in the US is likely a violation of the Vienna Convention," WikiLeaks said on Twitter.
It went on to suggest that Moscow might want to wait until US President-elect Trump's inauguration on January 20 before taking any action.
"The Russian embassy must be facing a dilemma over its 2 banned compounds. Overnight decommission, or put in people + food in and wait for Jan 20," they wrote.
Putin
announced that Russia will wait on a response until Trump is inaugurated, Putin
will not stoop to Obama's level:
We regard the recent unfriendly steps taken by the outgoing US administration as provocative and aimed at further weakening the Russia-US relationship. This runs contrary to the fundamental interests of both the Russian and American people. Considering the global security responsibilities of Russia and the United States, this is also damaging to international relations as a whole.
As it proceeds from international practice, Russia has reasons to respond in kind. Although we have the right to retaliate, we will not resort to irresponsible 'kitchen' diplomacy but will plan our further steps to restore Russian-US relations based on the policies of the Trump Administration.
The diplomats who are returning to Russia will spend the New Year's holidays with their families and friends. We will not create any problems for US diplomats. We will not expel anyone. We will not prevent their families and children from using their traditional leisure sites during the New Year's holidays. Moreover, I invite all children of US diplomats accredited in Russia to the New Year and Christmas children's parties in the Kremlin.
It is regrettable that the Obama Administration is ending its term in this manner. Nevertheless, I offer my New Year greetings to President Obama and his family.
My season's greetings also to President-elect Donald Trump and the American people.
I wish all of you happiness and prosperity.
Just look at the number of retweets on that one! If there's one thing better than Russian hacking, it's Russian trolling.
More responses from Russia:
Zakharova: 'Obama team are foreign policy losers, humiliate Americans with anti-Russia sanctions'
Zakharova wrote that the outgoing president did not manage to leave "any" major foreign policy achievements as part of his legacy and instead of "putting an elegant period" to his two presidential terms has "made a huge blot" with his latest decision to impose more sanctions on Russia, expelling 35 Russian diplomats and closing two diplomatic compounds in the US.
"Today America, the American people were humiliated by their own president. Not by international terrorists, not by [the] enemy's troops. This time Washington was slapped by own master, who has complicated the urgent tasks for the incoming team in the extreme," Zakharova wrote, labeling the current administration "a group of foreign policy losers, bitter and narrow-minded."
"Today, Obama officially admitted it," she wrote.
Zakharova then offered her sympathy to Secretary of State John Kerry, who, she argued, had also suffered under the current administration as he was unable to do his job properly, being constantly "mocked" and "let down" by his own colleagues.
"Mr. Kerry, in this difficult moment for the United States, let me convey you the words of sympathy - you have done all what was possible to avert your country's collapse in foreign policy," she said, giving credit to Kerry's diplomatic skills.
"Out of this group of spoilers, I pity only Kerry. He was not an ally. But he tried to be a professional and maintain his human dignity."
Zakharova also said that with its incoherent foreign policy, Obama's administration has inadvertently debunked a long-cherished myth of America's exceptionalism that claims a special place in the world.
"This is it, [the] curtain [has dropped]. The bad performance is over. The whole world, from the front row to the balcony, is watching a devastating blow to America's prestige and its leadership, dealt by Barack Obama and his semi-literate foreign policy team, which has exposed its main secret to the world - exceptionalism was a masked helplessness."
"No enemy of the United States could have done worse," Zakharova concluded.
The spokesperson promised that the US won't have to wait too long for Moscow's response.
"Tomorrow there will be official statements, countermeasures, and much more," she wrote.
Update 4: CNN FakeNews reported that Russia was retaliating by closing a nonprofit day-school for children of international embassy staffs. Zakharova
responded:
American officials 'anonymously' briefed their media that in response [to Obama's sanctions], Russia closed an American school in Moscow.
It's a lie. Apparently, the White House has really gone mad and started to come up with sanctions against their own children.
And please don't write that "Moscow has denied... or will not...".
Write like it is: "CNN and other Western media once again referring to the American official sources spread false information"
Usually, you ask Santa Claus to bring you something. This year I will ask him to take something away.
The school itself
denied the absurd lie. Ironic, given that it's the Americans banning Russian kids by closing two facilities used by Russian staff members and their families for recreation. Oh, and Putin invited the American kids to celebrate New Year's and Christmas at the Kremlin... Obama, face it, you're outclassed on every level. Just go away.
The expulsion of 35 diplomats actually
affects 96 people, including some pre-school children. Some of the diplomats have served in the States for years, others only arrived months ago. Moscow sent a Russian plane to pick them up, as the 72-hour ultimatum resulted in difficulties finding flights on such short notice. Zakharova again:
Zakharova said Moscow hoped that the bad timing of the expulsion and all the troubles it caused to the Russian citizens was an oversight rather than intended malice on the part of the White House.
Russia refrained from its usual practice of responding to expulsions of its citizens by a foreign power with mirror expulsions of the respective country's citizens from Russia.
"We took into serious consideration how our American colleagues and their families would feel. Especially their children, who are now preparing for the New Year and are on their Christmas holidays," Zakharova explained. "They would have been cut off from their school programs and forced to pack their things and go back to their homeland in 72 hours. So we decided against it."
Trump responded with this Facebook post:
Translation: Obama is small and petty.
Rudy Giuliani
commented:
"I've never seen a president try to create more problems for a future president," Giuliani told Fox News. "First he double crosses Israel... now after 18 months of this hacking he does something about it. Why didn't he do something about it 18 months ago? It wouldn't have happened."
A "diplomatic source" told RIA Novosti the sanctions had a slightly more
specific motive:
"We are convinced that this initiative of Obama administration was dictated not by a desire to achieve problem's resolution, but by an attempt to create additional challenges to Trump administration on this issue [Israeli-Palestinian settlement]," the source said. "Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed US State Secretary John Kerry that Russia has no intention to support US administration proposals on the Palestinian-Israeli issues," the source added.
And unindicted Neocon
John Bolton told Fox he doesn't think the new sanctions "will have much impact at all":
"President Obama seriously compromised the signal he was trying to send by mashing together both the cyberattacks and the harassment of American diplomats in Moscow."
"This last burst of [Obama's] activity is intended to try and box the Trump administration in. And I think it will fail," Bolton stated.
Recall this is a pattern. As established in dealing with Iran, first the package of sanctions, then the unexpected continuation and then the second set of sanctions just as the first was supposed to be lifted. One presumes that a third and forth and fifth set will be in the offing also.
Strangely, this mimics the conditions the hard pressed public has to endure regarding being A LAW BREAKER HERE IN THE US. First the ticket, then the fine, then the court appearance, then the postponement, then the continuance, then the delay, then the reimposed fine. Endless because of the poverty public's inability to pay the money as required. Strangely, this set of penalties have resulted in thousands of individuals driving out of necessity while having traffic fine that resulted in their driving license being suspended. Some for 2o years.
One would think common sense would point to the need for amnesty for over 20 year old traffic fines but NO they remain on the books to destroy any possibility of rebuilding lives. And to think that in all ancient times there was the possibility of amnesty. Particularly the Catholic Church championed amnesty for the poor.
Bear in mind the supposed origin of our democratic rights began in ancient Greece as the people revolted after their land was taken for debt and then were forced to sell themselves and their family into slavery BECAUSE NO WRITTEN LAW EXISTED. The law was what the powerful said it was. Encoded law made us free. But today encoded law exists in the stratosphere and is interpreted by local authorities. Any pursuit of justice costs more than one can afford; another form of slavery.